In The End
by SheWritesAndShit
Summary: See caveat lector footnote! - "Ain't smart, runnin off on yer own." "Coming from the original loner." Lana studied the handsome but tough as nails redneck in curiousity. Lana's just discovered that her older sister and Shane Walsh have been seeing each other behind her back. Shane's just realized what he might be losing. Daryl's just drawn to Lana lately.
1. Better Off Alone

BETTER OFF ALONE

* * *

The explosions were rocking the ground beneath them and lighting up the skies above them like a burnt orange fireworks display, but it didn't stop the two of them from their kiss. His forehead pressed against hers and he stared into her eyes.

"It's gonna get real bad, isn't it, Shane?"

"Yeah." Shane mumbled huskily as he held her on his lap and looked into her eyes. "But you're gon be safe, okay? I'm gon make sure you're safe. No matter what. You and Carl, y'all don't need to be alone in all this."

This felt totally wrong, Rick was lying in a hospital in a coma and Shane's on again and off again relationship with her younger sister was somewhat on again and Lori suspected that Lana might even be pregnant currently, but somehow, even though she knew it was totally wrong, she didn't stop it from happening.

The gasp from the bushes shocked them both and Shane swore as he saw Lana's retreating back as she jogged away. He sprang up from the ground and chased after her, but when he stopped her, all she could do was slap him and just gape at him in shock.

"How long, Shane?"

"Hon..."

"Don't hon me you son of a bitch. Tell me how long this has been going on! I thought things were going to be different this time. I thought you really did love me. Guess I was stupid again, right? Not anymore. Go be with her!"

The others in their group were staring. Daryl normally didn't get involved in anything like this, but for some reason, he found himself watching Lana again like he seemed to a lot lately. He exhaled deeply, the plume of smoke slowly billowing upward into the night sky.

Lana tore past him, her bags thrown over her shoulders.

Daryl also wasn't exactly sure why he did it at the time, but he stopped her.

"Ain't smart, runnin off on yer own."

"Coming from the original loner." Lana studied the handsome but tough as nails redneck in curiousity. She nodded to Shane and Lori, both of who were calling her name and trying to stop her from leaving and she said quietly, "If I stay, Dixon, every time I see them it's gonna be like a knife stabbing me in the back. I think I'd rather brave leaving."

Daryl waved his hands and was going to leave it like that but something just wouldn't let him. Merle shook his head and grumbled in irritation as Daryl caught up to Lana again and nodded at Shane and Lori when she'd turned around. "If you leave though, princess… Ain't that like lettin 'em win?"

Lana mulled it over.

"Things are gonna get complicated, Dixon… If I stay, things are gonna get one hell of a lot more complicated than I want them to get. I already got enough staring me in the face, I just… I don't know how much more I can honestly take, okay? I'm not weak."

"Yet yer runnin'. Failin to see how that makes ya real strong, princess." Daryl exhaled the plume of smoke from his second cigarette in half an hour as he eyed her and then asked quietly, "You said thangs were gon be complicated..."

"You don't want to know that, okay? Look, I barely know you. I don't know why I told you as much as I did… But trust me, Dixon, it's complicated."

"How."

"Because I'm pregnant. And it's that asshole's kid, okay? And no matter what I do I know if I'm near him I will not stop loving him."

"Last thing you wanna do, girl, is leave. Especially if yer pregnant. Just stay, alright?" Daryl stated, not sure why he was butting into this whole thing.

Lately, no matter what he tried though, he couldn't help but be painfully aware of Lana almost. It annoyed the living hell out of him, but he also hated the way Shane had a decent girl and kept throwing it away.

The words hit a lingering Shane like a brick wall.

Lana was pregnant.

Lana loved him.

He'd really fucked it up this time.

He eyed Lori and then looked over at Lana and Daryl, growled quietly to himself and started to walk over.

He cleared his throat.

"We need ta talk, hon."

"I have absolutely nothing to say to you, Shane. Have a good life with her. Be good to her. Oh wait, I was the only one you had trouble being good to. I was the one it was so damn hard to just love and be happy with. I gave you everything, Shane. And every single time I turn around you're up my older sister's ass again. I can't take this anymore. I can't."

"Yeah, well… If what I heard ya tell Dick here."

"It's Dixon, asshole."

"Either way, I just heard you tell him that yer pregnant, hon."

"And I never said I'd stop you from being there for the kid. Just stay the god damn fuck away from me. I'm done. I'll stay with the group but I don't want you anywhere near me unless it concerns the baby. Tell Lori the same goes for her. That my sister is dead to me now."

"So yer not leavin?"

"No. But I'm done with your shit. The only right you have to me anymore, Shane, is our child. I want nothing more to do with you… Because that kiss is not just a kiss. I saw you with her, with Carl… I see the way you look at her when you think I'm not looking."

Daryl eyed the two of them and cleared his throat. "Ya could thank me, asshole. I kinda got 'er to stick close."

Shane eyed Daryl with a slightly less than thrilled look in his eye.

Lori rushed over to keep things from getting out of hand and Lana shook her head and then barely refrained from slapping her sister. "And you… I thought you'd finally just let us be happy. Should have known better. Have fun with him. Rick deserves so much better than you and I pray to God that if and when he wakes up, Lori, he leaves your slutty ass. Because if you two were kissing like that tonight then I'm pretty sure that was not the first time it happened." Lana barely managed to keep from screaming it.

She stormed into the RV and sat down at the table, hand in her hair, eyes down as she let the tears finally come.

"I'll be fine. I don't need Shane Walsh. I don't need anybody. Me and my baby will be just fine alone."

"Are you alright?" Dale asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Just purged all the poison outta my life. I'm hurtin like hell right now, sir, but I think I'll be okay again..." Lana answered quietly as she took a sip of water and sat there just sort of quietly planning out everything in her life from this moment forward.

But we all know one thing and that's nothing ever quite works how we plan it to…

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Okay, so I just watched the entirety of The Walking Dead and the opening lines came to me in a dream the night before last. However, I was not expecting angst and drama to pour out when I sat down to actually let the idea come and form and everything. And I have no idea what to do with this next? **I love Shane, by the way, so writing this with him cast in that light was hard for me to do** , it's probably the hardest thing I've ever actually written.

I want two things from you guys out there… It's obviously set in Season 1 before Rick comes back.

One, I want reviews if you think I should continue… And maybe in that review, you can cast a vote for Lana's potential pairing?

It's either Shane or Daryl, possibly Rick for this.


	2. Better Off Alone Continued

BETTER OFF ALONE CONTINUED

* * *

She couldn't even look at him. She had to give him credit, he was going above and beyond, he was really trying to make things right with her. But she was determined not to get herself back into the middle of a love triangle.

No, Lana figured that being an expectant mother in the middle of the end of the world was more than enough stress. She was getting off the rollercoaster ride between herself and Shane before it got any crazier. She was not going to raise their kid with a man who had one foot out the door. He obviously felt something for Lori that he couldn't get rid of, that he just couldn't shake and Lana was sick of not knowing where she stood.

He came up behind her, the group had just gotten back from a run. "I got you sumthin, darlin."

"Give it to her."

"Just look at it." Shane pleaded, turning her around to face him. The look in her eyes was killing him. He'd really fucked things up. There was hurt in her eyes now, distance and not kindness. Wariness instead of the trust she used to have when she looked at him. It killed him even more now than it had the other times they'd broken up.

He wanted to fix this.

He'd been thinking lately, he couldn't picture his life without her in it.

He didn't want to.

He grabbed hold of her hand and opened it, putting the necklace inside of it, closing her hand around the necklace. It was one she'd been eying in a store in town every time they'd walk past it after they both got off work and were going to the diner to grab a bite to eat.

For a split second, Lana looked at the necklace and at Shane. Then she sighed and shook her head, giving it back to him as she turned and walked away. "Leave me alone, okay? I cannot do this. I cannot keep coming back. You always say it'll change and then it doesn't. If it's not Lori it'll be another girl. There's always someone better with you, Shane Walsh. Always. I'm just a stop between better and best. I don't wanna be good enough to settle for. I wanna be somebody's best. I deserve to be somebody's best. And you were always mine… But..."

"But what?"

"Things change, okay? And watchin you with my sister kinda showed me just how little I mattered, okay? If I mattered at all… I mean my sister, Shane, you were sneaking around with my married older sister." Lana sighed quietly before walking away as quickly as possible.

She bumped into Daryl and bit her lower lip. "Sorry."

" 'Ts okay, princess." Daryl mumbled, the nickname making a smirk form on his lips. He only called her that because she was one of those high maintenance types before the whole world went to hell in a handbasket, one look at her designer shit and the fancy car and the way she acted sometimes and he could just tell. If the world weren't going to hell in a handbasket, their paths would obviously never cross… If they did, it would be because she was bored or something.

And he'd just decline and walk away then.

But since he'd become so painfully aware of her after finding himself thrown in with this group of people, he didn't know anymore…

"If he bothers ya, stop bein near him." Daryl stated calmly.

Lana gave an annoyed snort and mumbled quietly, "Easier said than done. He keeps poppin up. Keeps trying and saying all this stuff and doing all the things he shoulda done before and sometimes I just… It doesn't matter, okay? But the point is, Dixon, it's easier said than done."

"It ain't, actually. If ya see him comin, fuckin walk away."

She eyed him, she'd detected something in his voice, _jealousy maybe? Or concern?_ , either way, it was enough to give her a little bit of a pause, enough to make her sort of look at him with this curious gleam in her light brown eyes.

"This shouldn't matter to you."

"I never said it did, princess."

"My name is Lana. Not princess, not barbie, not all those other names you and Merle keep callin me." Lana mumbled as she tried to fight the fact that oddly enough, her eyes were sort of drawn to his lips and the freckle nearby… And the green of his eyes…

 _'I'm blaming horomones. That's all this is. If this were normal circumstances this guy and me would never cross paths unless he was lookin for an easy mark because god knows I'm probably the easiest one around… I bought Shane Walsh's shit too many times to count and now.. Anyway, all this is is horomones and the fact that he's sort of tolerant of me and doesn't bother with the others. That's it. He's only tolerant of me because I'm pregnant and despite all outward actions and appearances, Daryl Dixon is a pretty decent man, hell, he's a good man.'_ she tried convincing herself all of the above. It had to be horomones.

"Whatever." Daryl muttered as he eyed her and wanted to punch himself in the face when his eyes found those plump pink lips, the almost caramel color of her eyes, the honeyed brownish blonde of her hair… The curves and the way her jeans and t shirt fit them like a glove. He coughed and mumbled something, he wasn't even sure what it was, honestly, and then he walked away.

Lana watched him walking off, shaking her head at herself. They were polar opposites. Not only would they never last, but they'd never consider each other an option under normal circumstances. "It's only because he's being so nice to me." she mumbled to herself as she flopped down in a chair next to Andrea and rested her head against the back of the chair.

"Feeling okay, girl?"

Lana gave Andrea a thumbs up and Andrea said casually, "Lori's real upset."

"Let her choke on it. Sisters don't..."

"Yeah, I told her that too… Promised I'd try to talk to you but that I wasn't a miracle worker. She's worried about your situation too..." Andrea ventured, Amy speaking up, "If I were in her shoes, Andrea, I'd be mad as hell too. Just let it go."

"Just trying to keep tension down, Amy."

"There's going to be tension no matter what." Lana spoke up quietly, opening her eyes to look at Amy and Andrea as she added, "I'm glad you both see it my way though. It means something to me. I know I'm not insane or over reacting."

"Shane really does love you, though."

"He doesn't. He thinks he does. He loves the idea of me. He loves that like a yo yo, he can wind me up and pull me back whenever he wants. And I'm sick of being a toy."

"So… Daryl talks to you?"

"Occasionally, yes." Lana told Amy who giggled a little. "He's not so bad… Little rough around the edges, but.."

"There's already over half a thousand reasons we wouldn't last either. I'm better off on my own, okay? Can we please talk about something else? Anything?"

"I miss coffee."

"I miss watching tv."

"I miss my vibrator." Carol muttered nearby, the group of them turning to look at her, Andrea high fiving her and laughing while nodding in agreement.

"Ever tried using the spin cycle of a washing machine?" Lana asked and eyes shifted to her. "All I'm saying is that maybe sex on a moving washing machine isn't such a bad thing."

"I do not want to know."

"That was too much about Shane. Too much."

"Oh honey… It wasn't Shane… No, this was a guy I knew in college. A guy I stupidly turned down a marriage proposal from because I loved Shane so much and I was convinced that we'd finally get it all together..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

Lori coughed from nearby and asked, "Can I talk to you, Lana?"

"Not in the mood."

"We really need to talk."

"You need to fuck off." Lana managed to say as she stood and brushed angrily past her older sister. "Go pretend to be a mother to your son or something. Just leave me the fuck alone. You have it all now. Or are you going to try and steal my baby when it's born too? Just let me have my little piece of him and leave me the fuck alone. Both of you."

"We're still sisters."

"Yeah, well… You can pick your nose, sister… Can't pick your family." Lana stopped and turned to tell her sister that before walking into the RV and sitting down, staring out the window and into the distance.

"I should have just left."

"It's not safe for you out there alone." Glenn spoke up from nearby.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather have compromised safety and total sanity than compromised sanity and total safety." Lana mumbled as Glenn moved to sit across from her. "Lori again, huh?"

"Both of them, dang it. I just want to let it all go. I don't want to talk about it, be reminded of it. I hate them both for making me feel this way. I hate myself for going back to Shane when I knew he'd only hurt me yet again."

"Maybe it was a mistake… He really… He loves you, okay? I mean he told me and Tyreese that earlier..."

"That man only loves what's best for the moment."

"If he doesn't love you, Lana, why's he planning to leave and get you away from here, from all this… Because he was trying to talk me and Tyreese into going too." Glenn asked as he looked at Lana.

"Because he's delusional. I'd die before I went somewhere with him now. I still love him with every breath in my body… Doesn't mean I'm stupid anymore." Lana sighed and shook her head.

Daryl walked into the RV and gave Glenn a raised brow before reaching over Lana's head, onto the shelf along the ceiling to grab more arrrows. "If yer feelin sick… There's this plant out in the woods… Reckon I could bring it back to ya."

"Only if you want to." Lana mumbled as she sipped a bottled water and tried not to focus on how close he was to her right then and the hell it played on her insane horomones today. Daryl stared at her a minute and then told Glenn, "Goin off ta hunt."

On his way past Merle, he stopped and told his brother, "Keep that asshole Walsh at a distance from 'er. Because the way he keeps messin around with her head ain't right."

"Yer sweet on 'er, reckon."

"I didn't say that. That guy 's an asshole."

"Ya really don't hafta say it, Daryl."

"I ain't sweet on 'er, god damn it."

"Bullshit."

Daryl rolled his eyes and stormed away, crossbow over his shoulder, grim set on his jaw. He was in a mood now. Hunting would put distance between him and her, it'd keep him from beating the piss out of Walsh, it'd stop him from not being able to look anywhere but at her whenever she was nearby or walked into a god damn room or tent he happened to be in.

Because he did not need that hand full of complications.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Okay, so I just watched the entirety of The Walking Dead and the opening lines came to me in a dream the night before last. However, I was not expecting angst and drama to pour out when I sat down to actually let the idea come and form and everything. And I have no idea what to do with this next? **I love Shane, by the way, so writing this with him cast in that light was hard for me to do** , it's probably the hardest thing I've ever actually written.

 **I want two things from you guys out there…** It's obviously set in Season 1 before Rick comes back. He will be coming back in another chapter or two. Right now it's mostly me just leading up to that... Should i have things sort of happen and see where it goes? I'm honestly torn between Shane or Daryl. I mean I think that things could be fixed between Shane and Lana... But Daryl could really open up earlier and things could be one hell of a lot more interesting in future chapters...

One, I want **reviews** if you think I should continue… And maybe in that review, you can **cast a vote for Lana's potential pairing**?

It's either _Shane_ or _Daryl_ for this. I have a path in mind for each guy, so at a certain point the story will go completely AU. I might be talked into considering _Rick_ with a swaying enough reason, though... Anyway, another chapter for you guys. Reviews = love.


	3. Conversations

CONVERSATIONS

* * *

She sat by the bonfire, arms around her knees, eying the woods impatiently though she wasn't entirely sure why when Merle walked over and flopped down on the ground beside her, looked in the direction she was watching and proceeded to shake his head and howl with laughter.

"What?" Lana asked, giving Merle a sharp look. She was still on edge from an earlier confrontation with Shane and yet another attempt at her sister giving a half assed apology. She was pretty much done with the day so far and glad it was night time. But anxious.

She hadn't seen him all day, not even for a split second. There had been no vague jabs taken at her like he seemed to enjoy doing when he stubbornly insisted on calling her princess or barbie or some other nickname she suspected that he gave her because he had entirely the wrong impression about her.

Merle eyed the brunette and shook his head as his laughter ceased gradually and took a sip from a flask as he said "Nothin, sugar tits."

"If it's nothin then you won't mind tellin me what the hell is so funny?"

"Just know what yer sittin there thinkin right now, is all. Ya won't ever admit it. Girls like you never do, I don't reckon."

"Girls like me..."

"Classy stuck up ones."

Lana burst into laughter then and then asked quietly, "And just where do you get that impression?"

"You and yer sister, sugar tits. Yer like night and day."

"Thank God for that. Least I'm not screwin her husband."

"One way o' lookin at it, I reckon." Merle shrugged as he added casually, "He'll be in from the woods in a few minutes, sugar tits."

"Who?"

"The man yer about to damn near break yer neck watchin fer. My little brother. Which is what I came over to talk to ya about… Daryl ain't…. He ain't like me." Merle stared into the fire as he twisted the empty glass bottle in his hands.

"That's kinda obvious, I'd think."

"Hey! I could take offense to that."

"He has manners."

Merle snorted in laughter again, shook his head and waved his hand as he laughed. Then he stopped and said calmly, "If yer just messin with him cause yer bored… It won't last."

"I'm actually not messing with anybody." Lana stated as she air quoted the term messing with and then said quietly, "Besides, you're wrong about me, completely. But you're right about one thing… It won't last."

Merle noted the shift in her tone when she said it, how it almost sounded wistful and he covertly smirked to himself. She wasn't as bad as some of the other women in this damned group, at least she did laugh at the way he did things and the stuff he said, she didn't go getting uptight like nearly every other one.

Curious, and enjoying casual conversation for once, while also trying to find what the hell his kid brother saw in this one girl, he asked Lana, "Why wouldn't it last? I mean yer opinion."

"Because… guys like that only look for the easy marks. And this easy mark's all played out."

Merle snickered and shook his head. Again, she had entirely the wrong assumption. So he stated in response to it, "Yeah, well, yer kinda girl only goes messin around with guys like my brother n me if they're bored."

"You really think so, huh?" Lana asked, brow raised as she wondered where in the hell both the Dixon men seemed to get the assumption she was some high society woman or something. It made her start to laugh and she was laughing so hard that soon she was shaking.

"What's so damn funny?"

"Most people, Merle, would be real offended if you said some shit like that to them. I, however, think it's hilarious and don't mind setting you straight.. I mean since we're having this conversation." Lana took a sip of water and winced a little, she had a slight abdominal pain that for a few seconds made her heart race a little in fear.

Merle noticed it and stood, pulled her up. "C'mon… Reckon we can see if anybody here knows anythin about babies and bein pregnant. Because that look just now..."

"I'm fine, okay? I just… Every now and then today it's happened. Goes away when I calm myself down and just sit real still. I was taking courses to become a nurse, interned at a hospital. Lots of women get them now and then, especially if they're too active and conditions aren't exactly optimal to be pregnant in the first place. Also not too early for it to have been a kick..." Lana rubbed her abdomen gingerly… Maybe if she kept thinking positively, maybe… She couldn't let herself freak out, not now, damn it. She could do this. She was going to do everything in her power to make sure she took care of herself and the baby. It had only been happening sporadically throughout the day, if it kept up tomorrow, she'd tell someone heading out on the supply run what to pick up for her.

But she refused to think anything negative. She was going to be fine, the baby was going to be fine, she was not going to lose a child she very much wanted. She wasn't sure if she could actually handle it, but she didn't dare admitting it. "I'm fine. If it keeps up I'll get somebody to pick things up for me on the supply run tomorrow."

Merle eyed her warily, almost as if she were a ticking time bomb and not a pregnant woman. "Yer sure? Because Daryl, he told me to look over ya while he was gone huntin." as he eyed her and searched her face for a reaction, smirking a little when he got the desired reaction, he'd been casually testing the waters. After a few seconds, he added with a shrug, "Tell me what ya need and I reckon I could try and find it.

Lana grumbled and raised a brow, a confused look on her face as she asked quietly, "He did? I mean but why the hell?" as she eyed Merle and waited, nodding when he mentioned helping her and thanking him for it, her mind going a mile a minute at this new information revealed.

Merle nodded in the direction of Shane and Lori.

"Oh.." Lana went quiet and then picked up where she'd been about to start a few minutes before the flutter of pain. "I think you both got the complete wrong idea about me. For starters…. That car? Something I've been working my ass off for and saving my money to buy since probably, oh, my freshman year in high school… My sister and I, we didn't have that much when we were growing up. And I just got so sick of wearing Lori's hand me downs and never having anything of my own."

Merle eyed her, curious now. He nodded so she'd continue.

" I worked my ass off, made damn good grades and the second that diploma was in my hand, oh man…. I got the hell away from King County. Thought I'd go off to a big city somewhere, make something of myself."

"Reckon it went well, you got all this fancy shit."

Lana laughed and shook her head slowly. "I did, but I didn't… Because you see that man right over there? The one thing I **really wanted** … I use past tense here because since this whole end of the world shit started, I've sort of started to step back and take a look at things..." Lana's voice fell away and for some strange reason, the passing thought came to her ' _I really hope that stubborn son of a bitch gets back to camp soon. He's never been gone on a hunt this long, has he? Does he not know it's dangerous?'_ but she kept it to herself. Probably the best thing to do. She continued where she left off be f ore getting distracted after taking a heavy sigh and answering honestly, "Shit like this… It always knocks the people we idolize and love the most right off any pedestal we got 'em on… I thought Shane was going to change this time… Should have known better. Never should have come back here, for him."

Merle thought to himself, _'If it didn't work the first time, girl, why the hell would ya keep tryin?'_ but his curiousity was satisfied when she continued to speak a few seconds later, telling him that she'd always had this crush on the older guy, Shane… And the older she got, the worse it got… Problem was, Lori was always around… And then when Lori got married, Shane suddenly noticed her.

It made sense to Merle then, but not willing to risk his life and piss off a hormonal pregnant woman, he kept his thoughts on the matter hidden.

Shane walked over and eyed Merle, asked Lana in concern, "You alright, baby?"

"I'm not your baby."

"Hon..."

"Get lost, pig boy." Merle stood, toe to toe with Shane, eying him, doing exactly what his brother asked him to do.

Shane glared at him and started to shove the guy but Lana spoke up and said calmly, " What part of don't fucking stress the pregnant woman do you not get, Shane? Look, it's over, it's done. You can be a part of our kid's life but you're not a part of mine anymore. And if you want me to have a healthy and easy pregnancy, Shane, god damn it, stop breathing down my neck and trying to make me forgive you because it will not happen. Ever. This was the last time you took my heart and broke it. I think I got the best part of you anyway."

Shane sighed and started to say something but Lana's cool tone and the pain in her eyes stopped him. He walked away to cool off, he'd give her time to cool off too. They had to fix this. He was not going to just stand back and let her go without a fight, especially not to one of the damned Dixons.

Daryl chose that moment to walk out of the woods, crossbow slung over his shoulder, cigarette dangling from his lips. Shane was walking past, Daryl said casually, " Might be a good idea ta leave 'er alone." and kept walking.

Shane turned but Lori grabbed him quickly and then said quietly, "Shane, you have to let her go, okay? You know how this always goes. And she's my little sister even if she hates me right now. Maybe it's for the best."

Shane yanked his arm away and glared at her before walking away.

Daryl walked over to Merle and Lana and Merle made it a point to say in a very loud and teasing tone, "See, sugar tits? Back and in one piece… And lookit, he's got supper too."

"Merle?"

"Yeah, Daryl?"

"Stop talkin and start skinnin, god damn."

Merle grumbled and took that as his cue to make a retreat. One look at Lana's visibly flustered and flushed cheeks told him he'd gotten the desired rise out of her anyway, his work for the time was done.

Daryl eyed Lana wondering why Merle said what he did when he'd walked over just now after getting back from the hunt.

"Took you long enough, Dixon."

"Bastard I was carryin in over m' shoulder decided it wanted ta run all over. Found it down by that crick we all been usin to wash up in."

"Pretty good sized deer."

"Ain't the biggest 'ne." Daryl shrugged as he eyed Lana and then asked, "Shouldn't ya be sleepin or somethin, shit..."

"I was heading that way."

The tension between them was so thick anybody could see it and after the sarcastic exchange, Lana made a hasty retreat to her tent.

Laying there, she went back over the entire conversation with Merle in her mind, though she wasn't really even sure what she hoped to gain by doing so in all honesty.

"If I don't stop overthinking this, seeing things that are definitely not there..." she warned herself as she yawned and rolled over, tried to get some sleep.

It was harder to do now, she didn't have anyone holding her on the few nights she actually let herself feel the loneliness. The thought made her laugh because if she really stopped to think about it, when had she ever 'had' Shane Walsh all to herself?

He might have been with her but his mind and his heart were always somewhere else.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Wow! I wasn't expecting many to review this, to be honest. I really don't view myself as the greatest writer and I figured that I was get ting all the characters totally wrong. I can't believe I have 6 reviews! And then 4 favorites and 5 follows. Thank you all so much for the love and the encouragement to actually continue this story. Azraelthegunslinger, your review really touched me because like I said, I was so worried I was going to fuck up even attempting to write Daryl. I'm glad you like the portrayal, very glad. galwitanatitud, I may or may not have made a decision as to who I'm going with. ;p

Thanks so much, everyone! God I love you guys!


	4. Tell It To The Frogs Part One

TELL IT TO THE FROGS I

 _warning beforehand: events are not exactly as they were on the actual episode. neither is dialogue. And the fight between Shane and Daryl sort of gets a little further out of hand before it's broken up. Sorry, I wanted to make everything fit together. ;p_

* * *

Daryl looked up from skinning the deer he'd gotten earlier when a shadow blocked out his sunlight and he heard a throat clearing. Lana stood behind him, arms full of clothes. He raised a brow and asked, "Whatcha want, princess?"

"I was gonna go down and wash some clothes with Carol and Andrea… Thought I'd see if you or Merle had anything you needed clean. Do not give me that look, Dixon, you own more clothes than that shirt and those jeans." Lana answered when Daryl gave her a raised brow and chuckled a little. "So yer gonna just wash my clothes, huh?" he asked, immediately wanting to punch himself in the throat when it sounded just a little less casual and a little more flirtatious than he'd meant it to. He had meant it to be casual, hadn't he?

He wasn't entirely sure lately.

She was getting in his head and he didn't like it.

He was trying like hell to get her out again, it wasn't working. Nothing he tried seemed to work.

Shane wandered over and Lana grumbled.

"Can you fuck off?"

Shane eyed Lana with a raised brow and then shot Daryl a warning glare. "The hell are ya talkin to him for, hon?"

"I was asking him, Shane, if he needed clothes washed."

"Let me have 'em. I'll give 'em ta Carol and she can do it. You need to be resting."

"Actually, Shane, I was a med student before the world went to shit. Remember? Or did you ever even notice that about me?" Lana flared angrily, Daryl spoke up and said with a cocky smirk aimed at Shane, "I got some thangs in Merle's truck.." as he stood and waited on Lana to follow.

It was worth literally everything to see the angry look on Walsh's face when Lana did catch up to him. Daryl stated calmly, "If he's still doin Lori, Lana…. And we both know he is."

"Yeah, that much is obvious… But continue?"

"Means he ain't gon change, ever."

"I'm starting to see that now." Lana watched Shane as he walked over to Lori and the two disappeared. She gave an annoyed eye roll and shrugged it off. She'd had about two weeks to get used to the whole ending things permanently by now, so it wasn't quite as angst filled, seeing Shane with her sister.

It hurt yes, but it didn't rip her heart out every single damn time she saw them together like it had right after things happened a little over two weeks ago.

"The clothes, Dixon.."

"Reckon I oughta.."

"No, no. I can carry them, okay? I'm not made of glass." Lana insisted as he tried to take the pile from her arms. Mostly because she didn't want the awkwardness of him seeing her panties or anything else… They were friends, he was safe, he was comfortable, she did not want to do anything to diminish the comfort she felt around him.

"That's a lotta stuff though."

"Daryl, no. I have it."

He smirked and she realized what she'd done… As opposed to calling him Dixon, a tactic she used to keep herself from thinking of him as anything other than just another member of the group, she'd actually used his first name. His given name and not his last name.

 _'And now I'm never gonna get 'er outta my god damn skull. I'm fucked.'_ Daryl thought to himself as he grumbled, finally stopped insisting that he take the clothes down, but he did manage to assert that he was going to come down when they were done and carry his own back up.

Across the camp, Shane watched them and Lori cleared her throat as she mumbled in a voice hoarse from crying, "I just… Are you sure he was dead when you went back the other night? I can't believe he's gone."

"He didn't have a pulse, Lori. I checked twice, even waited." Shane sighed a little, slid his arm around Lori and pulled her against his side as he said quietly, " I think Lana and me are done. She just don't look at me the way she used ta."

"The cycle you two were on, Shane… It was vicious and nasty and it was messing both of you up. I can't sit here and lie and say that as her older sister I'm not happy she's finally trying to break the habit, but I know it's killing you." Lori admitted after a few seconds, looking up at him and then over at her sister where Lana stood, talking to Daryl.

"But Dixon? She's gon fall for Dixon?"

"She hasn't fallen for anyone, Shane. Andrea said that they're just friends."

"Friends my ass.. Men like that only want the one thing." Shane spat angrily, the words were bitter in his mouth and he didn't miss the sense of irony in them because when he'd had her, he'd wanted everyone but her. Now he didn't anymore and she was the one person he wanted more than anything… But lately, he and Lori were trying to get comfortable with each other, this recent development with Rick's passing, they needed each other most right now and Shane could not deny that if he'd been with Lana still, he wouldn't be dropping everything to rush to Lori… They'd just always had this connection.

But then he had the same sort of connection with Lana.

He'd just done a piss poor job of showing it, a fact that he truly regretted, especially right now. He regretted it most right now.

"At least she's not pushin me out completely. At least she's gonna let me be there for the baby."

"That's better than nothing, Shane."

Lori went back to observing her sister with the younger Dixon brother covertly. She wasn't sure what to think about it personally, but she was noticing the little things.. The lingering glances, the way they always seemed to migrate really close together whenever they were speaking to each other, even if they were arguing which they seemed to do a lot…. Maybe if Lana were to be with Daryl…

Lori just wanted someone to take care of her little sister since Lana had completely shut her and Shane out.

Merle cleared his throat and held out three shirts and two pairs of jeans and then held out his other hand. Lana raised a brow and Merle said calmly, "Ya told me ya needed some thangs yesterday."

Lana dug around in her pocket and pulled out the list. "If you're not sure what they are, ask Jacqui. She'll probably know. If she doesn't, Andrea had a pretty good idea of what I was talking about."

Merle gave a nod and then said to Daryl, "You gon get somebody ta make sure that sumbitch Walsh stays away from yer girl, right?"

Daryl's entire face clenched and more than anything, he wanted to punch Merle in the dick. And probably as hard as humanly possible. It really irked him, Merle taunting him about Lana the way he did.

 _'Only irks ya because maybe it's true.'_ his thoughts, the pesky damned things, nagged at him.

"I can handle myself just fine." Lana spoke up quickly. She'd seen the angry flash in those almost high definition green eyes of his and she wasn't going to make him feel like he _had to keep her safe_. She didn't want him to feel obligated towards her at all, that was the last thing on Earth she wanted, she wasn't going to play the victim card and make some guy feel like he had to 'do right by her', hence the reason she'd walked away from Shane and was not just caving in and letting him back in.

"You heard 'er." Daryl muttered as he eyed Lana for a few seconds, holding her gaze intently. Merle took off to leave with the group going on the supply run and Daryl left for the woods, this left Lana to pretty much her own devices.

She made her way down to the creek to wash the clothes and Carol asked quietly, "Everything alright today?"

"As good as it can be. I wish he'd take someone into the damn woods with him when he went." Lana muttered the last thing in a voice slightly lower than the voice she'd started out speaking in. Carol nodded to Daryl's disappearing back and asked, " He talks to you a lot, I've noticed."

"I know. I'm still trying to figure out why, to be honest."

"I think I have a pretty good idea."

Ed started to yell out for Carol and Lana asked quietly, " Do you want me to tell him to fuck off?"

Carol grimaced at the language but shook her head and said quietly, "No, I'd better get up there before he comes down here. Last time, Shane almost beat the heck out of him."

"I remember that."

After Carol left, Lana sat on the banks for a few hours , just sort of thinking things out. When she made her way back up the banks, it was because it was starting to get later. She came back up the hill just in time to see everything as it played out….

The van swerved into a spot just inches from the RV and everyone who'd went out on a supply run that morning except for Merle got out. And then the driver of the van got out.

Lana gaped.

Rick stood there, looking absolutely shell shocked and grateful to be alive.

Lana's eyes cut to Shane and she wondered for just a few moments if maybe he hadn't lied when he told Lori that Rick was dead a few nights ago…

Lori ran to Rick and Lana's eyes met Shane's. She noticed that he looked hurt and angry, and she found herself shocked when instead of running straight to him to fix things completely, she instead rolled her eyes at him staring at her and turned her attention expectantly to the treeline ahead.

"Shit… Shit…. If he comes back and finds out what they've done to Merle..." Lana bit her lower lip nervously. She knew that the brothers were very close even if they acted more to the contrary. She'd seen Daryl angry before, she wasn't sure if Daryl angry with Shane madder than hell right now was…

And then it hit her… She wasn't worried about Shane's being hurt or upset at all right now… She was worried about the rather volatile situation that lie ahead when Daryl finally got back from hunting. She was worried about Daryl in all this because she'd grown up with Shane's temper and she'd seen enough of Daryl's since he'd wound up in the group to know that both of them with fuses lit was… It wasn't a good thing.

She didn't want Daryl getting hurt somehow. She wanted to find him. She wanted to make sure he was okay, that he didn't get it in his head to try and fight Shane.

Because Lana knew too well that if Daryl confronted Shane then Rick somehow was going to get in. Two on one… Because Lana didn't see any of the others going to help Daryl… Not that he needed it, he certainly didn't.

She saw Daryl walking out of the woods and she took a few deep breaths and distanced enough that she could still see and hear what was about to happen, but she'd be out of harms way. The tire tool lie on the picnic table, she'd wrapped her hand around it before the thought to intervene came to mind.

"MERLE! GOT US A MESS OF SQUIRREL!"

"About Merle, Daryl…" Shane started. Lana started to inch forward before she even realized it, if not for Andrea, she probably would have gotten closer.

Andrea shook her head and mouthed, "Stay out of this." to her friend.

"What the fuck you mean he ain't here? Everybody else is back." Daryl looked around.

"There was..."

"He was trying to start things. Handcuffed him to a pipe. And the key got lost." Rick spoke up quietly and that was enough for Daryl to rush Rick, furious. When he did that, Shane grabbed him in a choke hold and when Shane did that, Lana didn't even realize she'd done it until she had, "Fuckin let him go."

Andrea fixed her eyes on her friend in curiousity. Lana's hand tightened around the tire tool and Andrea shook her head no and said in a whisper, "No you don't, fireball… Stay out of this, trust me."

"I swear to God." Lana grumbled, shuffling her feet, suddenly anxious and not really even sure why. It was because he was her friend, that was what she was going to stick to, damn it. Because she was not in the position to offer anything more than friendship and even if she were, he'd probably laugh his ass off at her.

Their kind didn't interact in normal society. _All this was_ , she lectured herself mentally, _was being thrown into a situation that looked dire coupled with hormones and in addition to that, it was because he'd been decent to her._

 _ **'Liar' ,**_ her mind argued back, _**'it's more than friendship and you know it, Lana. And that scares the living hell out of you.'**_

Daryl shoved through the gathered crowd and walked past her, punching the hood of his brothers truck. Lana counted to at least twenty and when he stopped swearing and punching the truck, she walked over and said quietly, " He didn't hurt you, did he? He swung at you pretty damn hard, Daryl." as she looked at him in concern before adding, "Rick said he'd go back and find Merle tomorrow. I know Rick.. He won't screw you over."

"Reckon he's damn sure gonna… Because I'm goin too." Daryl muttered. The fact that her saying his first name, his given one and not his last one for the second time in a day was enough that he'd snapped his head up almost as soon as it left her lips. He eyed her, the anger was still boiling hot but he took a deep breath for whatever reason.

"Daryl..."

"I'm goin, god damn it. That's my brother out there."

Lana couldn't argue because despite everything going on with herself and her older sister right now, she'd be doing the same thing as Daryl right now.

"I know. And I don't blame you, I just… Be careful, okay? Because if you get bit I don't have anybody else to argue with all the time you grumpy asshole." Lana managed as she gave a small and concerned smile.

"Wouldn't miss me if somethin went down, would ya?"

Lana stayed silent, that was an extremely loaded question.

She focused on the bloody nose he'd gotten instead, swearing at Shane's general direction the entire time while Daryl stubbornly insisted it was fine and Shane hit like a little bitch.

Shane watched her fussing over Daryl and he walked away quietly. He'd officially started to lose everything. Everything was spinning out of control. Now that he realized he really loved Lana, _because he'd felt nothing when Rick came back and Lori went straight to his arms, nothing but regret for what he gave up and risked for just one chance to finally be with Lori_ , now that things could be fixed… Now she was tired of fighting for them and what they had before he messed it up so many times.

He swung at the side of the RV when he was out of sight of everyone.

"Everything okay with you and Lana, Shane?" Rick asked, a confused look on his face as he looked from where Lana stood, talking to the brother of the man he'd had to leave behind, to Shane again.

"I fucked up, Rick… Fucked up real bad. Reckon she hates me now and I can't say I blame her. Didn't know what I had until I went and acted stupid and lost it." Shane admitted, not saying anything further.

His thing with Lori recently had been a huge mistake. Rick didn't need to know about it. He didn't even want to really think about it.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

And again, I am totally amazed right now. It's hard, writing Shane as the bad guy, because I loved the character, but.. I'm managing it. I hope that Daryl is still mostly in character, I'm trying my best to keep him as IC as possible so that the reading experience isn't totally fucked for anyone. I was touched because a reviewer actually said I'm doing a good job with it, I can only hope that I still am. wow... Seven reviews and 6 faves / 10 follows. I'm really very amazed that so many people actually read this. I thank you all for reviewing and encouraging me, from the depths of my soul I really do. It's because of the reviews and everyone favoriting and following that I'm inspired to keep working on this idea as a whole.

I actually have made a decision as to which guy I'm choosing, though it may be obvious to some by this point. :). I tried to 'show and not tell' but I'm pretty damn certain that I'm shitty at doing that, so pretty sure anybody can guess who she'll wind up with.

LOVE YOU GUYS FOR REVIEWING!


	5. Tell it to the Frogs Concluded

TELL IT TO THE FROGS II

 _warning beforehand: events are not exactly as they were on the actual episode. neither is dialogue. And I didn't include anything that happened during the search for Merle because I just figured that none of it needed to be changed or anything. I did, however, reveal her 'connection' to Lori's husband.._

* * *

She paced; concerned. Her eyes stayed fixed on the road, she shielded her eyes from the glare of a late afternoon sun and grumbled when Lori walked over and said quietly, "We really need to fix things with us."

"Lori, do not start with me again. Fixing things isn't what you really want. What you really want is to know if I'm telling Rick. And your answer is no… But only because it would crush him. You have a good man and you tried to throw it all away."

"I thought he was dead."

"Yeah, Shane and his little white lies. I believed 'em too, look where it got me." Lana mused as she rolled her eyes and grumbled quietly when she heard shouting, realized that Ed and Shane were fighting, again. She made no move to stop it.

He was a big boy, let him fight if he wanted. It wasn't her business anymore.

Lori sighed and raked her hands through her hair as she asked quietly, "Do you still love him?"

"Honestly? I don't know anymore. I feel something for him I just… It's not what I thought it was." Lana flopped down into a lawn chair and looked up at her older sister as she said quietly, "You got your answer. Your secrets safe. I mean if you want to walk around with all that on your shoulders waiting on the other shoe to drop, Lor, it ain't my business. Nor do I care to get in the middle."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'd be a lot better if they'd get their asses back here."

Lori eyed her sister and Lana said quickly, "He's just my friend, before you say whatever it was."

"Sure he is.. That's why you're watchin that road like any second he'll come down it." Lori commented, ignoring the glare her comment got her. "They'll be back. They better come back."

"In the meantime, shouldn't you go to Shane and sort things out? Or are you going to just keep leading both of them around by their noses?"

"Like you've never cheated on someone… You and Rick, remember?"

"That was when I was young and stupid, and if memory serves, Lori, you had a lot to do with why that whole thing happened the way it did too." Lana spat angrily as she took a deep breath, pointing away from herself and towards a fight brewing between Shane and Ed Peletier.

"Just get over there. Away from me because I have nothing at all to say to you. I may have made mistakes, Lori, but you… You just hurt and take and you don't give a damn who you hurt or take from. And maybe I got sick of it finally." Lana grimaced, the baby was kicking again, it had been all morning.

"Ouch, kiddo, can you please stop punching mommy's insides?" Lana wondered to herself, hand to her stomach as she watched the sun sinking lower in the sky. Daryl and Rick and T Dogg still weren't back. She was trying to tell herself that Daryl was okay, that he definitely could handle himself, but she could not stop the worry that crept in over her only actual friend in this entire group of people.

She rubbed her abdomen and stood, walking over to the bonfire going now, sitting down. Shane walked over and sat down beside her just as the baby kicked again. She didn't have the heart not to let him have a moment with the baby they were expecting so she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach and he smiled.

"I just thought you'd want to feel."

"I'm glad ya thought of me at all, hon."

"This does not mean anything is changed, Shane. I still want nothing to do with you anymore. However, our kid… they need you to not get bit or dead. Or do dumb shit like that fight with Ed just now… The fuck were you even thinking? You know how he is when he drinks."

She stood and walked away, going to stand by a tree, watching the road that ran parallel to the bottom of the hillside their camp was on top of. And she waited… They had to be coming back soon, didn't they?

Headlights cut through the night and as soon as the van stopped and they got out, Lana scanned his face and she could see it there, written all over it. Daryl hadn't found his brother Merle. She frowned and bit her lower lip and tried to make herself focus on looking busy with straightening out her tent since it was nearby, so it wouldn't be obvious she'd been watching for him.

Daryl walked over and said from behind, "He wasn't there. Sawed off his own damned hand...We found signs that maybe he got off the roof."

"I'm sorry, Daryl."

All he did was shrug and she sighed as she turned and stood, looking up at him. "He's like you, okay? He'll show up again. Maybe he's on his way.."

"He ain't." Daryl cut her off, his words a little laced with bitterness that normally, he'd shove down and mask. He wasn't sure why but he couldn't do that, he couldn't hide things with her. He'd been trying, god had he been trying. "He's gone."

"Daryl..."

"Don't, Lana. I ain't in the mood. Not everythin' is sunshine an daisies. My brother's out there somewhere… But I ain't gon find him." Daryl stated quietly.

She noticed how close she seemed to be migrating to him, again, it always seemed to happen with them. She had to make a concentrated effort to step back, that damn magnets pull to him being what it was…

"Okay, alright."

He took a few breaths and noticed that she'd stepped back but now he seemed to be drifting closer. He asked casually, "Everythin alright today?"

"The little one's been kicking the hell out of me today. I talked to Lori..." Lana kept it vague, shrugging. "Shane tried to talk to me again, I shut it down. I'm just done. I'm exhausted with the way he keeps pushing me away and pulling me right back when something else doesn't work out."

"Good idea, Lana."

The way her name sounded on his lips sent this shiver through her body and she nodded as she focused her efforts on not concentrating on how good it felt, hearing it. She wasn't ready, she had too much coming at her and Daryl, he… He was her only actual friend in the group lately save for Carol and the few times she talked to Andrea.

"You'll find him again, Daryl." she off ered one last time as she looked up at him, their gazes lingering, bodies accidentally brushed together lightly. He stared right back and shook his head before walking away. Lana went into her tent and lay down, covering herself up, curling into the blanket and sleeping bag to get warmer.

"It would never work out. And he's my friend, I shouldn't… I shouldn't want him the way I want him. I shouldn't feel connected like this. I need to step back, take a breather…" she mumbled to herself as she started to fall asleep.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

And here we are, another chapter written and posted and you guys are.. You're amazing, can I just say that? I never expected in my wildest imagination that this story would get even half the favorites (7) or follows (12) or reviews (8) that I have and I want to thank every single one of you who've done onr or two or all three of the above things because you're giving me encouragement. I'm especially touched that someone thinks I'm doing decent with writing Daryl's character. I really am trying. I have definitely made a decision about her pairing, you all probably know it by now, but it'll be made clear sooner or later. Until then, I might play devils advocate here and there, bear with me please? Because I happened to like Shane and they are going to be parents together and I wanted to give the guy some good moments... Anyway, I love you all, you're so very fucking amazing for reviewing and favoriting / following.

Enjoy!


	6. CDC Part One

CDC PART ONE

 _warning beforehand: events are not at all as they were on the actual episode. neither is dialogue. And Daryl might be just a slight bit OOC. I tried my best to keep him as IC as possible, but... fluff for my favorite redneck, okay? But I did try so hopefully he's not too badly OOC.  
_

* * *

But taking a breather, like she promised herself that night a week before, it was not an option. He was on her brain most of the next following days , because anyone who really looked at Daryl Dixon could just tell.. He was sort of coming apart quietly, but true to form, he was angry and surly, sneering and seething quietly.

She spent most of this particular day avoiding him. It just seemed like the _best_ thing to do. She didn't know what she could say to make things better without making them so very much worse, she knew this because she'd tried every day since the day they came back from the ruins of the city minus Merle. She'd just sat down and taken out the magazine she'd bought with her during one of the last supply runs she'd went on when she heard the subtle flick of the Zippo he used for his cigarettes and smelled the smoke.

He sat there, quietly.

Neither of them really seemed to need words, honestly.

Finally, he spoke up and said quietly, "Spotted a walker, reckon it's gon be unsafe here soon."

"Yeah, earlier… Shane and Rick were talking about finding a new place. Rick thinks going to the CDC is a good idea. I'm just not sure. I figure that maybe when we're all on the road again I can just slip off. I can make it out there on my own. It'll be less stressful..." Lana started, not even getting to finish her thought because Daryl spoke up quickly, a stern and slightly angry voice, "Yer not leavin the group."

"It'll just be one hell of a lot less stressful. I can't sit here and watch what all this shit is doing to the father of my kid. I may hate him for what he's doing and where he's heading right now, but I can't watch the way she… Nevermind. Look, it doesn't matter anyway."

And then things went to hell in a handbasket in a matter of literal seconds. The Walkers slipped up on the camp and everyone was scrambling for higher ground, for weapons, anything to keep from being bit. Daryl stiffly picked Lana up and stood her in the RV, barked at her to go and hide in the bathroom or in the back with Carol.

"Lana's in the RV, ain't she?" Shane asked him, a glare as they fought off Walkers. "She is. Don't reckon it matters to you, Walsh. I got 'er inside, outta this." Daryl grumbled, _a possessive tone he didn't quite pick up on but Shane did_ , as he stabbed a Walker with an arrow and yanked the arrow free again.

Shane fired off a few shots and pushed the whole thing just then out of his head. It killed him, he'd burned the bridge with Lana and he _knew it…_ But stupidly, he just kept hoping she'd give him one more chance, he knew if he had one more chance he wouldn't screw it up this time. As soon as there was a break in things, he made his way in to check on her. "Lana!"

"Back here. I need more ammo, god damn it." Lana called out and Shane found her perched in the small window above the RV's double bed, fi ring shots out. "Get yer ass somewhere safer. If they catch ya, hon!"

"God damn it, Shane, I am not letting you two get hurt. And I'm damn sure not sitting in here like some princess in an ivory tower. So either hand me the ammo or move and I'll get it myself."

Andrea tossed the shells at her friend, earning her a glare from Shane as she did so. And then Andrea ran back out and into the midst of it all just in time to watch her sister get taken down by a walker. The tears came fast and she felt like throwing up but she ran over and fired off as many shots as she could. Unfortunately, Amy had been bit, the damage was done.

The last of the Walkers was down and everyone stood there shocked and horrified. What the hell were they going to do now?

Daryl made his way into the RV as the others started to argue over burning or burying their dead and Lana stood, made her way over, grumbling in annoyance as she saw a few scratches on him. He looked at her and said calmly, "We're gon have to leave. Place ain't safe no more."

"Yeah." Lana answered quietly, looking at her hands, trying to get her heart out of her throat. Everything that happened just now just made everything more real to her. Could she really do this, have a baby in this kind of a world? _'Yes. Because you love the baby and once upon a time, Lana, you loved their daddy too… and you'll make this work somehow.'_ she reassured herself mentally. She was lost in thought, she missed what Daryl said next.

"Rick said we're gon leave at first light."

"Huh?"

"Said we're leavin real early." Daryl said simply as he turned and walked away before he did it again, stood there too long, around her. Being near her threw him into this internal uproar, he wasn't sure if he liked it or not… It was different.

Lana gathered her things together so she wouldn't have to first thing in the morning. And then she went to sleep again, burrowing down in the blankets, her mind full of thoughts.

All of them about a certain hard as nails redneck, much to her chagrin.

When she woke up, the sun was just starting to rise and it was because she kept hearing somebody hissing her name through her tent flap. She peeked out and her eyes met his. "We're leavin."

She gave Daryl a thumbs up and grabbed her stuff, standing there a few moments, trying to decide where she'd ride. She was about to get into the RV with Carol and Sophia and Dale, but then Daryl stopped the truck next to it, his brother's bike strapped into the bed.

When she saw Shane heading her way, about to call her name, ask her to ride to the CDC with him, her mind made itself up spontaneously and for reasons unknown to her, she slid into the passenger seat of the truck Daryl was driving. "At least you ain't got a lot of shit." he mused as he put the truck into drive and started to get into line behind the RV and Rick's SUV.

The drive to the CDC was quiet mostly, neither of them really said much. Lana nodded off a time or two and the last time she nodded off, she inadvertently leaned against Daryl slightly. At first, he was stiff all over, and he started to wake her, but instead, he let her keep her head against him and kept his eyes fixed on the road, a tight grip on the steering wheel.

Having her in there sort of made things less lonely for the man, though he'd die a thousand agonizingly slow deaths before ever admitting it.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter written and posted and woooow... I logged on to 10 reviews. TEN. I didn't even expect one from anyone. I honestly think my writing is v. shitty. And not only that, 12 favorites and 17 follows! For that many people to actually want to read this, it... It blows my mind and it definitely means the entire world to me, you have no idea how much so. I just wanted to take time out to thank you all, every single one of you, for the encouragement you give me because without it, I probably wouldn't have kept going with this small grain of an idea that I had at first.

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH.

Also, sorry if Daryl is OOC at times. I try my very best to make him not be OOC, but obviously, things have to change a little for him 'falling for someone' to work. And it won't be perfect or sappy or anything either, trust me. I've actually sat down and started outlining things. This chapter was the first part in the CDC episodes, the next part will be the conclusion to that.

Soon, dearies.. Soon you'll know who I've chosen. If you haven't figured it out already. In the meantime, have some non fluffy fluff.


	7. CDC Part Two

CDC PART TWO

 _warning beforehand: events are not at all as they were on the actual episode. neither is dialogue. another CDC chapter to come after this one and then I swear to God, I'll move on to another episode or a filler chapter that makes sense to go in the story.  
_

* * *

She felt herself being tapped awake. "One hell of a snore." Daryl commented as he held her gaze and then nodded to the large building they sat parked in front of. She stretched and it was only then that she realized she'd fallen asleep at some point and so much asleep that apparently, she'd been resting her head against his leg.

Had he been playing with her hair? She distinctly remembered the feel of rough fingers gently tangling in her hair. She thought it wise not to mention it, so she didn't ask him about it. It was probably just one of her damned erotic fantasies about him and she was wishing for it to be a reality and if she did ask, things could get awkward between them and that's the last thing she wanted.

He was staring at her a little, she was staring back at him. He blinked and grumbled, shook his head as if he were shaking it free of any and all thoughts. "Reckon we're gon ta hafta make a run fer it." he nodded to the small clusters of Walkers lurking.

"Yeah, it looks like it." Lana mused quietly, biting her lower lip, reaching down, pulling the handgun out of the waistband of her jeans where she kept it tucked most of the time. Daryl eyed the gun and Lana asked him with a raised brow, "What?"

"Usin that thang yer askin ta get bit."

"Well it's all I have, Daryl."

"Shitty man you had. He didn't give ya a quieter weapon?"

"When he got me this one, Daryl, the world wasn't in shambles. Besides, I didn't exactly want a gun in the first place, I… What the hell are we arguing for? We need to get inside."

"Alls I can say is stay behind me, god damn it."

Before another word could come, they were making their way past, praying to god not to be noticed by the walkers lurking. Unfortunately, one or two did. Daryl took them out and looked at her, held up his knife.

All Lana was seeing was how damned close she'd come to watching him be bit, not one time but two. "You're going to give me a god damn heart attack." she grumbled as they made their way into the building behind the others.

"This guy's insane."

"If he can actually help us, it won't matter." Lana whispered back.

"Reckon a hot shower won't be so bad." Daryl whispered as soon as the words running hot water were mentioned. Lana groaned at the thought, to have a shower again, to sleep in a bed again… It was almost like she'd woken up from a nightmare.

Shane caught up to her as she passed by and he asked, "Feelin okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Good… I just wanted to make sure, hon." as he glared a hole through Daryl, who glared right back, tempted to just punch him and be done with it, not sure why and mad as hell about it.

Being around Lana always made him like this and he wasn't sure half the time whether it was a good thing or a bad one or if he'd wind up losing his damn mind because of it. He didn't want to feel things for her, yet he did. He didn't want the magnets pull, but it was there.

"This is me." Lana stopped in front of a door. Daryl nodded, eyed her and asked, "You gon be alright?"

"I'll be fine. Just cannot wait for this hot shower. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear those words again." Lana admitted as she asked Daryl, "You?"

"Yeah. Hungry as hell too. The food better be good."

After this strange lingering moment, he slunk down the hall and into the room two doors down. Lana went into her room and immediately stripped down and got into the shower, groaning as the hot water hit her body and she worked on getting clean. She'd just stepped out of the shower when the smell of an actual cooked meal hit her nose and her door was knocked on.

Lori stood outside.

"What?"

"Just wanted to see how it went… Riding here with Daryl.."

"I slept. Why? Wanna steal him too?" Lana blurted the words out before she could stop herself and then she quickly added, "Because there's _nothing_ there, I mean the guy acts like he tolerates me at best."

"I didn't steal Shane."

"You damn sure didn't make matters any better, did you?"

"Maybe if you'd actually shown him you needed him, Lana. I mean he was always saying how he didn't know if you really needed him around or not. A man has to feel needed..."

The door slammed in Lori's face and Lori sighed and shook her head. She almost knocked again, instead, she found Rick and they made their way down the hall and into the cafeteria area to eat the food that had been prepared.

Lana had just st epped into the hallway when Daryl came out of his room. He eyed her and she eyed him, neither of them saying anything. Since tonight felt special, the hot bath and an actual bed to sleep in, she'd done her hair and her makeup and broke out her heels. Daryl, of course, eyed her feet and assessed, "Gon break yer god damn neck in them, woman."

"I've been walking in heels since I was eight, Dixon, fight me."

"Ain't good for ya though."

She grumbled, but relenting, which was a thing she rarely did she noticed that seemed to happen a lot with him, she slipped the heels off and found a pair of flats sitting just inside the door to her room. "Happy now?"

"Didn't say ya had to change, woman. Just sayin, you woulda tripped and broke yer damn skull." Daryl smirked, he'd been mostly trying to pick an argument with her.

Judging from the flare of her nostrils and the faint flush of her cheeks, it worked nicely. He couldn't help but notice that she looked sexy as hell when she was angry. Or the way the makeup sort of made her chocolate colored eyes even brighter somehow.

Or the way the cherry red of her lips just sort of taunted him. He grumbled at himself, _annoyed_. He didn't want to think those things. He didn't want even more things to find attractive about her, damn it.

Quietly, they made their way into the cafeteria, just as the man who'd let them into the building started to hand out the alcohol. Lana eyed Daryl in concern when he gripped a bottle of whiskey and took a healthy sip.

He did seem to liven up though.

Once or twice as they ate, he'd accidentally sort of brush against her. Lana sipped her water and ate her food quietly, almost spitting her water out when Daryl started to tell her some of the things he and Merle had gotten into.

They'd gotten into this conversation and it felt like the room and people around them just sort of disappeared. She found herself telling him things that she hadn't ever really told anyone before, not even her older sister. Not even Shane and she'd told him absolutely everything, once upon a time. She wasn't drunk like the rest of them, she just felt liberated, done with all the bullshit and drama with her sister and Shane, at last. Free again. More like herself.

Seeing everyone cozy and in conversation and laughing and having a normal time, a good time, she asked Daryl quietly, " I'm really not in the mood to be around a whole lot of people… And Shane keeps watching me like a damned hawk with that sour look."

"I can go punch him in the face." Daryl blurted as he wondered to himself, _'Where the fuck did that come from, exactly, Dixon?'_ and quickly coughed to cover up what he'd said, hoping to hell it would work. Naturally, it didn't.

"Noooo.. No, you really don't have to… I just wanted to know if maybe you wanted to wander around?"

"Yeah. Gettin too damn loud in here anyway." Daryl muttered as they stood and slipped out of the room, into the hallway, continuing their conversation.

Shane watched as Lana slipped out of the room and he clenched the bottle sitting beside him tighter, ignoring Lori's mouthing to him to let it go. He didn't want to let it go. He had to watch her with that damn asshole Dixon now and know what he gave up just for the hope that Lori really wanted him this time.

"Whatever you're thinkin, Shane, don't do it." Rick told his best friend as Shane slapped on a fake smile and did his best to insert himself back into conversation. Where the hell had they went? He couldn't get it off his mind and it was really grating his nerve.

Everything was falling to pieces all around him and he didn't even have her anymore to lean on.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter written and posted and holy shit!? I got 14 reviews, oh man, wow. And thank you for your encouragement again, Azraelthegunslinger, I'm so glad I'm still doing fairly decent at portraying Daryl in my story! You're so kind, all of you who review and favorite and follow, you have no idea how much it means to me. And someone pointed out an earlier mistake. I did in fact mean T Dogg, I was loopy when I wrote that particular chapter, sinus meds and a long day in general, it must have slipped when I re read to edit. Thank you so much for mentioning it though! I cannot believe this thing has 14 reviews (13) favorites and (19) follows! I'm so thrilled.

Hey, guys, if you don't mind, I have a poll up for the next story I should post, if you see anything in the list that interests you, could you vote, please? Anyway, THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH AGAIN!

I honestly meant for this chapter to be the conclusion of the CDC but it isn't. And more awkward fluff between Daryl / OC. I will be revealing who she'll wind up with soon, I swear to God. :)


	8. CDC Part Three

CDC PART THREE

 _warning beforehand: events are not at all as they were on the actual episode. neither is dialogue. another CDC chapter to come after this one and then I swear to God, I'll move on to another episode or a filler chapter that makes sense to go in the story.  
_

* * *

Lana noticed the heat before she noticed anything else, that's what woke her from a pretty racy dream about a certain infuriating redneck. She sat up in bed, fanning herself as she strained her ears to pick out any unfamiliar sounds.

She didn't hear the slow and steady hum of the AC unit anymore and that alarmed her at first. "Maybe Dr. Jenner is just saving the generator."

She slid out of bed, stretching as she made her way into the hallway, promptly smacking directly into Daryl who steadied her. "How's your head today, Dixon?"

"It's been worse, princess." Daryl muttered as he found himself looking down into her eyes and just sort of staring yet again. He shook his head and coughed and then grumbled when Shane made his way past, an angry look at the two of them as he made his way by them in the hallway.

"What the hell is up his ass today?"

Daryl noticed it, she didn't seem to worry about Shane anymore. He couldn't explain the way it made him feel internally, and he wouldn't admit to being just a little happy about it, not if he had to die a thousand slow and painful deaths. "Reckon he got into it with yer sister… I thought I heard 'em yellin in the hallway last night."

"That sounds about right." Lana gave a shrug. There was nothing she could do for Shane anymore, he'd done what he'd done, she'd done what she'd done, they were totally over. She wasn't going back to him anymore, she'd rather be totally alone before that happened, father of her child or not. "Hey, did you notice the air conditioning went off last night and it hasn't been back on since?"

"Yeah, I noticed. Sweated my ass off." Daryl blurted. Lana's cheeks turned a pale pink as he said the words and she nodded in agreement, keeping quiet. "Maybe he's saving the generator."

"I ain't got a real good feelin."

Lana couldn't explain it, but she didn't either. She hadn't for a while, actually. They'd been at the CDC for a few days now and Dr. Jenner just seemed strange… He'd hinted at things, he said he'd show them all something about the outbreak.

Lana was sort of afraid to find out what that something was.

"Me either. Personally, I woulda rather went my own way than come here." Daryl blurted, looking at Lana for a few seconds. If not for her being with him the night they'd arrived here, he might have just done that. He'd been intending on leaving the group to be honest, after what happened with Merle… But He didn't want to leave her behind and he knew she wouldn't leave her sister and nephew no matter how many times she'd threatened otherwise since he'd met her.

Like him, her family was important.

The realization of why he'd stayed hit him like a brick wall and he shook his head, stunned. Gruffly, he muttered, "Let's just go get some grub, okay?" and they walked down the hallway and into the cafeteria.

She sat down at an empty part of the table, she figured honestly that Daryl would sit by himself, instead, he sat down across from her, chuckling when he heard Glenn moaning and groaning, it was only Glenn's second ever hang over.

"Kid cain't handle it he ought not drink it." Daryl mused as Lana nodded and laughed a little. The tension was there again but it was different… It wasn't heavy or bad or anything, it was just there. Before it was just tense.. now it was something entirely different.

If either one noticed, neither one commented, however.

Andrea spoke up, she asked about everything Dr. Jenner promised to show them and reluctantly, he agreed to take them into the control room and show them the footage taken during the initial phases of cure research.

Lana found herself scooting closer to Daryl at the sudden appearance of Shane on her left side, she turned her head away from the image on the screen. She'd really rather not know how someone became a walker or what happened after they got bit.

Shane tried to reach for her hand, instead, she found herself slipping her right hand into Daryl's left one tentatively, kind of like how one friend would comfort or let themselves be comforted by another… There wasn't anything romantic in the gesture, or at least that's what Lana told herself repeatedly as she did it. Daryl's hand stayed stiff at first, but then casually and slowly, his hand curled around hers and he gave her a look.

Shane leaned in and whispered into her ear, "If yer scared, hon.."

"I'm fine." Lana hissed back, moving a little closer to Daryl. There was just something very off about Shane these past few days, something she didn't quite trust… It scared her, and it worried her, but she kept her distance also.

She just prayed he'd find his way to light soon and stop letting the darkness he felt win.

There wasn't anything else she could do for him… If she could've saved him, she realized now, she'd have been able to one of the many times they'd crashed and burned before.

She wouldn't be able to save him now. There really was no actual sense in trying.

Her eyes settled on the screen and she forced herself to watch the footage, the MRI scans, all of it. Daryl felt her squeeze his hand at one point and he eyed her, leaned down and said into her ear, "If it's buggin ya that much maybe don't watch, Lana."

"I need to see this. So every single time I feel a little weak I remember what will happen." Lana answered as Daryl shrugged, shaking his head. It made sense, yes, but he also realized that maybe some of the stuff was upsetting.

"Ow shit." Lana grumbled, seconds later, her other hand resting on her stomach as she laughed. Without thinking, she placed their linked hands on her stomach.

Daryl couldn't really explain what he felt at that particular moment, he was trying his best not to feel anything because he didn't want to. But he felt something, he couldn't deny knowing that deep down.

"Active today, huh?"

Shane watched and growled to himself before tapping Lana and asking, "Is everythin okay?"

"The baby… They're just kicking up a storm."

Shane's hand settled on her stomach and he smiled a little, but as quickly as the smile had come, it was gone again. He looked from Lana to Daryl and he knew by the look in her eyes and the way Daryl was giving him the most blatant of go to hell looks that he'd lost her.

And there was no getting her back.

The damage was done.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 16 reviews 15 favorites and 24 follows. Again, I swear, the next chapter is the last CDC related chapter. I just thought that breaking the episode up gave a more real sense of time. I think they were there longer than a day or two but when I watched that episode it felt like it sort of just flew by? Anyway, more stuff from the cdc here. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left r eveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Sorry the update took some time this time, I had first world issues arise. I'm working on the follow up and last chapter to the CDC portion right now, with any luck, it'll be up tomorrow or the next day. A special thanks to Azraelgunslinger because they let me bounce an idea or two off of them! Love you all so very much you have no idea.


	9. CDC Concluded

CDC CONCLUDED

 _warning beforehand: events are not at all as they were on the actual episode. neither is dialogue. This is the last of the CDC chapters. And all apologies for lack of updating. My computer kind of broke.  
_

* * *

Dr. Jenner told them all as calmly as possible that he was not opening up the doors to let anyone out. That the only way out once they came inside was death. He also reminded them that they were warned the first night there and that he'd triggered the explosives rigged throughout the building and it's connected compounds. At first, everyone was stunned and shocked.

Shane broke first, getting violently angry. Lana eyed her former lover in concern because despite how much she hated him, she still felt worry and care for his well being, she wasn't like her sister, she couldn't just shut down everything they'd once been to each other. She didn't love him anymore and she knew that now, but she was still going to worry about him because they were having a kid together and she wanted him to actually be around for that kid.

Lana attempted staying calm, but when the rest of the group went into hysterics and no amount of begging and pleading seemed to make the man change his mind on letting them out, she felt her stomach churning nervously. Daryl confronted the man, he got violent also and Lana watched, holding her breath... It was maybe the second time she'd ever seen him get as angry as he had. When the shock wore off for her, the desperation set in just as Rick and T Dog managed to pull Daryl and Shane away and got them to stop throwing things around and breaking things.

She started to scream at the man angrily then. "Fuck you! My kid is not dying like this! I'm not dying like this! I made it too fucking far to die like this, damn it. So fucking let us out now or I swear to God..." she was being dragged away then, she realized as soon as the person who'd picked her up stood her on her own two feet again that it was Daryl.

He just stared at her for a few seconds quietly, shuffling his feet.

"We're gon get out, princess. Gettin all pissed off and upsettin yerself ain't good fer ya. Either of ya." Daryl stated calmly, giving her a solemn look as he spoke. "Rick thinks he kin talk to Dr. Jenner and make the guy let us all go. Then we're outta here. Shoulda never come here in the first place." Daryl paced as he spoke, kicking at a chairs legs. Lana was pacing too, hand in her hair.

From the doorway, Rick spoke up. "Everything okay in here?" he looked from his ex to one of the more volatile and lone wolf types of the group, Daryl. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the guy or the fact that he and Lana spent the vast majority of their time together. He and Lana had dated a while in the past, they just kind of stopped being a thing and then Rick got with Lori, so right now, Rick was sort of wondering just exactly what happened while he was in a coma... Because deep down he felt the rift between himself and Lori and himself and Shane.

He'd been putting it down to all the fighting they did before his coma. Now he wasn't so sure because of comments Lana made to Lori when the two would argue. After a few minutes of silence, Rick turned to Shane and Daryl and said quietly, "We have to make that guy see that we don't want to die like this."

Lori started to say something but Lana gave her a silencing glare. It was on the tip of Lana's tongue to just end all the damn tension between the four of them and spill everything that happened while Rick was in his coma but at the end of the day, she was not going to be the one to hurt Rick. Lori did a good enough job at that from the way things seemed to Lana.

"Any ideas?"

"We try talking to him, calmly, rationally. Shane, you and Daryl need to get your hands on weapons just in case." Rick rubbed his forehead, looking from one guy to the other for a few minutes. Shane gave a nod and Daryl nodded too. After everyone left the room, presumably to go and talk to Dr. Jenner, to try and plead with him one last time, Daryl said solemnly, "I ain't gonna stick round here, wait on this popsicle stand to blow. C'mon."

"And just what the hell are we going to do?"

"Look for another way out, woman. Do ya really think they'd build a place like this, put all those fail safes in and not leave an emergency exit for anybody who ain't willin ta die? Now come on." Daryl spoke firmly, the tone he knew worked best on Lana from previous experience with her. Really, he knew there probably wasn't a hidden room or exit but he could tell she was panicking and deep down, he knew he was too.

And the stubborn and tough as nails redneck was not going to die this way. He hadn't made it this far to die because some asshole didn't want to live anymore and the lot of them happened to be trapped in the same building as said asshole. Just as he was about to do that, Rick and the others found them and told them that they'd gotten a window open somehow and that if they hurried, they'd be able to get out.

Daryl and Lana took off at a run to the window and it seemed like literal milliseconds later, the old gray truck was spinning wildly out onto the pavement and falling in behind Dale's rv.

The ride, for the most part, was silent. The air around the two inside the truck was just sort of heavy with unsaid things, with electric like tension and neither of them were sure what to do with it or how much longer they could actually ignore it.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 17 reviews 23 favorites and 36 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left r eveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Apologies to you guys big tiem because I haven't updated in almost 3 months. My computer broke and I just got the money to actually get it repaired. I'm going to keep the story going, no worries here. Thank you all for supporting and reading it so far. Next chapter begins their time on the highway. And maybe some lovely sexual tension and veiled flirting? And more drama?


	10. Stranded Part One

STRANDED PT 1

* * *

The RV sat up ahead, smoke billowing from beneath the hood. Daryl barely had time to stop and when he did stop, it woke up a sleeping Lana. She'd been asleep with her head on his leg again, the softness of her hair whenever he'd rub it reminding him that he actually wasn't alone. He found himself curious... She had to know he wasn't the ideal guy, not even by a long shot.

He knew. He hated it, but he knew. It'd been drilled into his head from a very early age... Whenever you can wander lost in the woods for a few weeks and your old man not even have the slightest clue, well.. As a kid you learn real quick where you stand with people when you can get away with stuff like that. He couldn't shut his mind off right now, he hadn't been able to for the duration of the long and slow drive from the CDC to where the 'caravan' of vehicles sat now, the RV right out front, broken piece of shit it was. He'd been thinking again when Lana stirred, sitting up and looking around. "Let me guess... Dale's piece of shit broke again."

"Mhmm. Reckon we're gon be stuck here a while. Maybe we should get out with the others, see what we kin find. Might be some useful shit in some o' these cars." Daryl's hand raked through his short but shaggy hair and Lana nodded in agreement, coughing when she realized that she was maybe staring at his lips a little too damn long again. "Yeah.. I mean all these cars there has to be stuff worth using, right?"

"Hope one of 'em has Tylenol. Got myself a bitchin headache." Daryl mumbled, sort of holding her gaze for a few seconds before shaking his head, killing the engine to the truck and getting out. Lana got out on her side and made her way around the truck, standing close to him, a fact that Daryl was painfully aware of as usual. She went to say something and he held a finger to his lips and shook his head, leaning in a second later to whisper, "No tellin if Walkers are out, Lana. Best we stay quiet."

When Shane shouted from up the road, Lana smiled to herself when she saw the slight annoyed eye roll Daryl gave that he probably thought she didn't see. She smiled a little to herself when seconds later, Daryl observed, "That idiot don't shut his face we're gon get killed."

"That's true. What are we lookin for?" Lana asked, peering into the open back of a station wagon just two away from her sister and Carol and Andrea. Andrea called her name and she made her way over.

"You might want these." Andrea put a big bottle of pills into her hand. Lana raised a brow and Andrea said quietly, "Prenatal vitamins... For baby Dixon."

"We're not... I mean..."

"You two are always together. You know Shane's planning to leave, right?" Andrea asked, shielding her eyes from the sun overhead. Lana sighed and then said quietly, "He's a damn idiot. It's all Lori's fault if he does, but I... I can't go with him, I won't try to stop him. If I keep going back, Drea..." Lana explained quietly as Andrea admitted -to Lana's shock- "He won't be alone. I didn't want out of the CDC. I didn't want to keep going, damn it, Dale, he... He forced my hand."

"So you and Shane.."

"He's handsome. And I don't want anything permanent, just the fastest way the hell out of here." Andrea admitted, searching her friend's eyes for signs of any feelings she might have left over f or Shane, shocked when she found none. Lana took her hand and said quietly, "Shane... He's not in a good place, Drea, I've seen him get like this before. Think about yourself, okay?"

"I am. That's why I wanna leave with him when he does. Or slip off alone, which I could easily do if Dale would stop breathing down my damn neck. I'm not his girlfriend or his wife or his child. He doesn't have to keep watching me. I just... Losing Amy was the final straw for me. I'm done. Either I'm getting out of here on my own or with someone. I wanted to tell you face to face."

"I appreciate that, Andrea... Just please don't fall for his words or that charm. Trust me. I did at least four times and..." Lana fell silent as she saw Daryl walking up behind her, watching her. He was standing kind of close but yet not close enough for her liking... He acted like he wanted to be closer, his posturing clearly showed that of a man claiming 'his territory' and when Lana looked around, she saw why.

Shane was watching her like a hawk, again. He stopped smiling and the stormy look was back in his eyes. Lana sighed to herself and Andrea leaned in and whispered, "You're done, okay? I think, Lana, you know what you want. I want you to promise me one thing, in case I do leave... Go for what you want. Don't let anyone or anything stop you and stop overthinking everything, damn it. It's not like tomorrow is promised, it never was but now it's even less of a guarantee."

"I'll keep that in mind, Drea.. you be careful if you leave."

"Will do." Andrea walked away after giving her friend a thumbs up.

"The hell was that all about?" Daryl asked, a sort of playful look on his face for just a split second and then it was gone and he was yanking her underneath a truck with him, his arm was over her and the crossbow on his shoulder was in his hand. She heard the shuffling and the moans and heavy breathing and she knew exactly why when the horde of walkers made it's way past...

"Shhh... Be still, woman."

"I am."

"Yer fidgetin."

"I am not."

Daryl grumbled as he caught sight of movement a few cars ahead, T Dog hadn't caught on to what was going on and he was stumbling around, ovbiously injured. Daryl slid out from under the truck partially but Lana stopped him, eyes widened in fear as she hissed, "Are you fucking crazy, Daryl?"

"He's one of ours."

"I know... But you can't just go out there in the middle."

"Less time we spend arguin, quicker I kin get back in ta hidin." Daryl pointed out, his eyes widening in shock when Lana, in a moment of horomones - or at least that's what she was telling herself after it happened- grabbed his face and gave him a peck on the forehead. She wanted to kiss him on the lips, a real kiss but... She didn't want to do something to guarantee she lost her best friend, the rock she relied on to keep herself together lately, the only person keeping her partially sane throughout all this, either.

So she just went with a forehead kiss, at least that she could play off with the worries and concerns of a friend... Even if she wanted with everything inside of her for it to be more than friendship.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 21 reviews 24 favorites and 41 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left r eveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Apologies to you guys big tiem because I haven't updated in almost 3 months. My computer broke and I just got the money to actually get it repaired. I'm going to keep the story going, no worries here. Thank you all for supporting and reading it so far. Next chapter begins their time on the highway. And maybe some lovely sexual tension and veiled flirting? And more drama?


	11. Stranded Part Two

STRANDED PT 2

* * *

It happened in the blink of an eye and that poor girl never saw it coming. Even hours later Lana could still hear the echo of Carol Peletier's horrified screams echoing in her ears as well as her own audible gasp and the sickening churn of her stomach as Sophie ran for her life, literally. As the little girl vanished into the woods, Rick took off after her and Lana rolled her eyes when she heard Lori starting to whine about it, begging him not to go.

Daryl shook his head and eyed the woods in concern as he mused quietly, "Least the kid was smart enough ta run."

"Yeah." Lana managed to answer, finding herself rolling where they lie hidden, to face him. This put her body to body and chest to chest with Daryl, their lips almost brushed and if one were to speak suddenly, their lips most likely would brush. Daryl was acutely aware of her body and the way it felt against his and he coughed nervously. He didn't try to move away, he didn't really want to.

He knew they'd never work out, that they didn't stand a chance in hell in a normal world, and this one just might eat them both alive, but for that few minutes, her small curvy frame, the subtle kicks of the baby in her stomach, the way her lips were almost brushing his, it all felt too damn good. It had his mind and body in overdrive. He didn't know how to feel about it or what to do. His arms slid over her body, mostly because he was reaching for his crossbow, it was on the other side of her from where he'd pulled her against him to hide her face just in case Sophia had gotten dragged out and eaten.

Or that was what he was telling himself about both things... He knew otherwise deep down.

It didn't stop him from wanting everything he thought he couldn't have.

"Shhh." his lips might have slightly brushed hers as he muttered quietly, "Gettin upset ain't gon do nothin but upset the kid."

"She's out there and she's only 12, Daryl. I just... If that were my daughter out there..." Lana shivered at the thought. She heard her name being hissed and saw that it was Lori, calling out to her, asking, "You okay?"

Lana gave a thumbs up over her shoulder, not even bothering to fully look at her sister. She couldn't, she didn't want to. It was just too damn hard to do it. She'd gotten over Shane's part in it but her sister, doing this to her a second time, well... It wasn't so easily gotten over. Daryl's arm tightened when the shuffling of feet started past them again and instinctively, Lana buried her face in the sleeveless plaid shirt he wore, just to fight the urge to scream and give away her position, images of Sophia Peletier disappearing into the thick woods at the side of the road with a few Walkers hot on her trail fresh in her mind.

Their lips brushed a second time as Lana spoke and something in her snapped, she pressed herself completely against the stubborn badass who currently had his arms around her and she pulled him into a long and slow kiss that kept her from focusing on the Walker horde as it passed and made his eyes snap open wide. He didn't know how to react at first, but then he started to kiss back, rough fingers tangling in long and soft wavy hair. Lana groaned as she mumbled against his lips, "I... I shouldn't have done that."

Daryl couldn't think of a way to really respond but his entire body and brain were going haywire currently. He did the only thing he could think of doing, that was kissing her back. Before Lana realized what was happening, she was beneath Daryl's body, the weight of him above her, covering her was comforting and reassuring. His lips met hers again and he muttered against her lips, "Don't guess it matters much, Lana." breathlessly.

They were both shocked and stunned when the kiss broke and the Walkers finally managed to make their way away from the group so that the group could come out of hiding. Sliding out from beneath the truck, Daryl was still reeling from kissing her, irritated at himself for hiving done it, and for having liked it when she did it to him first, but he pulled her off the ground and quickly, they made their way over to the others who were all standing at the RV arguing.

"We kin look fer her now, but we ain't got much daylight left." Daryl interjected, surprised when his arm just sort of slipped around Lana, who was looking up at him with a face twisted in a mask of fear. "Rick?" he asked. Rick nodded and Shane spoke up, eying Lana, "The men will go."

The men set off for the woods on the side of the road, Carl taking off with them because Sophia had been his best friend. Lana found Lori behind the RV, vomiting and pale, obviously sick. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Lori snapped, her face softening a little when she asked Lana, "So... Did I see what I think I saw?"

"None of your god damn business, Lori." Lana snapped, defensive and edgy, watching the trees and waiting on Daryl and the others to come back, hoping to hell they'd find Sophia. She walked away from Lori and went to comfort Carol who was still beside herself. "Daryl's the best tracker I've ever seen... I mean he never comes back empty when he's hunting. And Rick won't stop looking until Sophia's found. She can't have gotten far, Carol. She's okay."

Even as she said the words, she wasn't entirely sure of their truth for herself... But Carol only had Sophia left. And Carol had been nothing but good to Lana since the day Lana joined the little group so Lana was trying to give as much comfort to her friend as she could, despite the fact that she knew if the odds were reversed and she were in Carol's shoes, she'd be inconsolable too.

A shiver passed over her again and she hugged herself for a moment before her hand wandered to her stomach... If she lost this baby... She shoved the thought out of her mind quickly. She didn't want to even consider the possibility even though it was a very real and large one. They didn't have doctors at the ready, she didn't have a stress free enviorment.

She did have Daryl and his friendship though.

Maybe if she just believed in that hard enough she and the baby on board would be okay at the end of all this.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 25 reviews 31 favorites and 47 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left r eveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Aaaand we have a little kissing action in this chapter. They're that much closer to being an actual thing... And some other big things in store down the road, so yeah... Lots coming their way. Just hope these two can stand up to it all.


	12. Stranded Part Three

STRANDED PT 3

* * *

They'd been scouring the woods for Sophia all morning when they found the camp. Lana watched while holding her breath as Daryl approached the tent and she wasn't aware of it but she was visibly tense all over with a racing heart. Andrea nudged her and mouthed, "You okay?" and she nodded, feeling herself become relieved when there was not a sign of Walkers only a corpse inside of the tent. As they made their way deeper into the woods, Rick and the others opting to push onward to cover as much ground as they could while they had daylight remaining, Rick stopped them all. "Maybe we oughta split up into groups." he'd been just about to say before the sound of bells rang out in the otherwise quiet afternoon.

Eyes fixed on each other and then at the forest ahead. Carol started to try and rush away but Rick and Lori managed to get her calm again, before finally agreeing to check out the source of the bells before going back to the RV and where it was broken down on the highway. Not a word was spoken as people began to split off into their own little groups, Lana wound up walking with Daryl when Daryl found Lana and said quietly, "We're gonna go this way." nodding to a path in the forest that seemed to be leading towards the source of the sound according to Daryl. They'd gotten halfway down the trail when Daryl spotted the small group of Walkers just up ahead.

"Still got that knife I gave ya?"

Lana dug around and pulled it out of her pockets as well as the gun. Daryl held a finger to his lips and then pulled her into a little thicket of bushes that was so crowded that the two were forced to stand body to body. "You scared the living hell out of me earlier." Lana whispered quietly.

"Yeah, well, Rick ain't no tracker. He needed my help."

"I know. And it's good you went, you just... Taking on that group of Walkers like you did with only that?" her eyes settled on the crossbow as she looked back up at him and added, "You and your risks."

"Don't know why in hell yer so damn worried, woman. Shhh.. They're comin right at us." Daryl held his finger to his lips and nodded to the little group of Walkers as they got closer to view. Lana gripped the knife, ready to strike if one got too close or stumbled upon the hiding spot she shared with Daryl currently. Daryl stared at her lips a few seconds, remembering how it felt to kiss them earlier; wanting to kiss them again, honestly. Then one of them looked dead at their hiding spot and Lana's eyes widened. Before she could scream, Daryl yanked her into a kiss after yanking her deeper into the thicket. He figured it'd be the only way to keep her from screaming her head off because he knew she'd seen them; she had to have seen them.

 _The fact that her lips are addictive has nothin to do with it._ Daryl's mind taunted him as he broke the kiss and held a finger to his lips. The horde passed finally, Daryl said quietly, "Figured I oughta shut ya up."

Lana stared at him; lips still tingling and swollen from the pressure of his rough lips as they claimed hers just seconds before. _I wish he'd been doing that for more than just to keep me from seeing the walker horde and screaming. His kisses are going to be my undoing._ Lana thought to herself; she managed a nod and kept her mouth shut. He'd been moody all day, she attributed it to none of them being able to find Sophia, to being stranded on the highway because of the RV like sitting ducks, to the situation in general.

Because never in a million years would she suspect that she -or the way he felt about her that is- had a damn thing to do with it. "Yeah... Good idea." she muttered; mentally, she kicked herself. She should have just kept quiet. They stepped out of the clearing and started to quickly catch up to everyone else in the group, finding them at at church.

"The bells we been hearin... Set on a timer." Rick said as Shane grumbled. Lori fanned herself, the heat was scorching today for whatever reason. Carol sniffled, wiping at eyes that already stung from the thousands of tears cried and glimmered with thousands more unshed. The pews were filled, at first the group thought corpses but then those corpses stood and shuffled towards them. Lana was thisclose to being bitten but she quickly remembered the knife given to her by Daryl and shoved it into the head of the walker before it could get hold of her, Daryl following up over her shoulder with an arrow before moving to take out another walker, - a woman- with a bigger knife he kept on him at all times.

"She has to be here somewhere. I have to... I need a minute." she asked Rick, going to sit in a pew, bowing her head to pray. Her prayers, she felt, were being ignored, she was being punished... She'd wanted Ed dead and now he was. And she was apparently going to pay for her wish with the life of her daughter, the only good thing she had left in her life. Her faith was shaken to it's very core and she just wasn't sure how much longer she could make herself believe in a higher being if that higher being was willing to punish a bad thought by taking a child -who'd committed very little or no sin- out of the world, away from a good and loving parent... Sure it was a vengeful wish... She could acknowledge that. But she couldn't bear this, Sophia being out there, all alone.

Daryl eyed the wooden Christ on the cross and mumbled, "Grantin any miracles today, JC?" as he kept Lana close by, not even aware that he was doing it... But Shane knew and internally, he wanted nothing more than to go over and break the rough and rowdy redneck in half. He stiffened all over and stood, storming out of the church, Lori hot on his heels.

Lana rolled her eyes at having seen them. Her sister obviously had absolutely no shame whatsoever. She couldn't help but notice that as Lori rushed past them to chase down Shane, she looked a little green around the gills. She eyed her sister critically and almost stopped her but she thought about it and chose not to instead. If Lori was sick it was her own doing, her own stupidity, trying to ride two horses with one ass. The further out of the loop she stayed, the better off she was. The thought was confirmed when she heard them yelling at each other as she and Daryl made their way out of the church. For a minute, her eyes met Shanes... The hurt there made her feel like the most horrible person in the world but then she remembered why being out, being away from their toxic brand of love was probably the best idea she'd ever had.

"You alright, Lana?" Daryl asked, green eyes glinting with what might be considered as concern for a minute. Lana nodded and muttered quietly, "Just thinking... And a little dizzy." which was true, she'd started to feel a little light headed earlier. Daryl eyed her; his hand trailed through his hair for a minute and lingered there. "Water... We're gon find you water, woman."

"I'm fine."

"I know ya are, but we ran out of that bottle of water about an hour ago. Didn't I tell ya? Stay at the fuckin RV." Daryl mumbled, their bodies, he noticed, seemed to migrate closer like always. He just couldn't get her out of his head lately, or away from him. He knew they'd never work in a normal world, in the old world. He knew he was too messed up for them to probably work in this world, the new one... But for it to be so wrong... It kind of felt right. It made him hope and wish sometimes that he could be wrong, that they could work, that this whole thing feeling right to him could be because it was right. He'd been in a mood because this morning, he'd woken up, he'd discovered that during the night they'd sort of lain down on the bench seat of his brother's truck, she was tucked in front of him. One arm was over her, that hand wrapped around the handle of his crossbow just to be safe.

He was moody now because it was probably the best sleep the rough and cynical redneck had gotten in a very long time.

"I can't just sit around and do nothing. I'm not made of glass. Sophia doesn't need to be out here like this and you guys need all the help you can get to find her." Lana insisted, giving him a firm look, her arms crossing, not backing down. Daryl held his own, giving her a firm look right back as he grumbled swears under his breath. "Damn hard headed woman."

"Stubborn ass of a man."

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 28 reviews 41 favorites and 54 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

This chapter is sort of got a spin on the events that happened at the church in it... aaaand maybe more kissage? I hope to God Daryl is IC -or as close as he can get all things considered-, For those of you wondering what's going to happen with the baby thing, just wait and see... I will tell you that Daryl and Lana are a great deal closer to being an actual thing, however. I won't say when or how but soon... I promise.


	13. Stranded Part Four

STRANDED PT 4

* * *

The rest of the group was working on combing the woods, Lana was stuck in the RV with her sister. She'd been pretending to ignore Lori's presence for the better part of an hour or so now but the third time Lori got up and bolted to the bathroom, hatred aside, Lori was family and despite all attempts not to get involved, Lana found herself waiting outside of the bathroom in the RV on her sister and when Lori walked out, Lana spoke up... "You've been sick a lot lately, Lori."

"It's stress, it has to be." Lori said, though the panicked look in her eyes clearly stated otherwise. She couldn't be pregnant by Shane, not when things with her and Rick were finally going so well. That would ruin them; it would mess up everything. Lori studied her sister a moment and then said quietly, "How about you? Feelin okay?"

"No worse than usual. Just worried to death about him right now." Lana spoke softly, watching the window of the RV as Lori spoke up from behind her, "If Daryl Dixon makes you happy, Lana, maybe it's for the best."

"Until you wanna fuck him too." Lana replied quietly, Lori wincing from behind Lana as the words hit their mark. She sighed and said quietly, "Shane and I are over... And I never meant for that to happen between us."

"Well it did. And it's not like I'm not used to it; you always were stealing anything that made me a little happy... Like that doll Momma got me. The way you smashed it?"

"It was an accident, Lana. Just like this." Lori tried to explain carefully, a bitching headache, the worst feeling of nausea ever and not in the overall mood for a rehash of their past arguments up to this point, but Lana seemed to be in the same mood and mindset. Instead of keeping the fight going Lana shrugged and mumbled quietly, "Toe may toe toe mah toe." as she went back to staring out the window of the RV, watching those woods, waiting for Daryl to come back.

The baby seemed to sense he wasn't around, it happened a lot lately, the baby would get restless, go to kicking up a literal storm and raise hell right up to the time Daryl walked back into the RV in the evening, his daily kills thrown over one shoulder and a Marlboro Red dangling from between those rough but kissable lips of his. Only then would the baby settle down.

Lana often wondered if it were possible, could a baby somehow sense what soothed mom and what upset her during the pregnancy? She'd never gotten far in medical school, she'd o nly been starting out when the end came and it was do or die and everything fell to pieces around her so very fast. She'd have been well into the half year stretch of an internship at a local hospital in Georgia, maybe even the one outside of King County if all this hadn't happened. She had no doubt in her mind now, she'd have left Shane after his latest transgression and she'd be alone.

Only difference was now, she wasn't totally alone and isolated.

Now she had Daryl and that made all the difference in the world.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize what was happening until a girl rode up to where they stood now, -outside, just down the hill at the side of the road-, without Rick, Shane or Carl and covered in blood. The sight of it, all the blood, it sent Lana running straight into the small confines of the RV bathroom and when she came out, Lori was having a meltdown, screaming and crying and all she could make of it was that Shane and Rick and Carl had been in the woods... Carl had seen a deer, he'd wandered out into the clearing, presumably to touch it and then a hunter -from what must be another band of survivors holed up on a farmhouse on the other side of the woods- took his shot, shooting Carl.

"Go to them."

Lori left with the other woman and Lana went back to pacing and thinking like she'd been doing previously, Daryl showed up with no signs of Sophia. Tension was thick between the two of them, then since the kisses they'd shared it had been, but not necessarily in a bad way, and he asked "Where's yer sister?"

"She left and went to a farmhouse with some woman named Maggie. Carl, he... He got shot. Lori said that she'd come back later, she'd show us all where to come." Lana muttered as she started to cry; that was after all, her nephew. Daryl awkwardly pulled her against him and then said calmly, "All that cryin ain't gonna do nothin but make ya sick all over again. Yer gonna get to see the kid again, when the rest of us go. Might not be such a bad idea for the rest of us to go, kid is one of ours."

Lana looked up at him and nodded, hugging against him, quietly taking a few deep breaths. "Any sign Sophia might still be out there?"

"Not really. Found some tracks, they ain't real fresh though and they ran out about halfway up the creek. Carol shoulda stayed here with ya, we found a tent and she melted down." Daryl mused, his hand lazily smoothing over Lana's hair as he added, "But if she's out there... I'm gon find her. No kid oughta be out there in all this. And we gotta look after our own."

"And people say you're a jerk." Lana mumbled, giving him a softer than usual smile when their eyes met for a few moments. Daryl shrugged as if the compliment were nothing but it sort of made him want to smile... It wasn't often he got told nice things.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 30 reviews 44 favorites and 58 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Okay, so... More fluff, more anger and they're not even a little closer to finding Sophia. Big things are incoming though, big ones. :D I just pray to God Daryl is even slightly IC in the story, I worry about it a lot because he is my favorite character of all and I want to do him justice as best as I can.


	14. Stranded Part Five

STRANDED PT 5

* * *

The farmhouse loomed just ahead and Lana found herself edging closer to Daryl. They'd done another quick sweep of the woods and after; Lana insisted that she was going to be with her nephew. Daryl tried to stop her at first, but when it was evident that nothing he said would work to keep her at the RV, he quietly stood and held out his hand, pulled her up off of where she'd been sitting, talking to Carol who was lying down in the bed in the RV.

"You two be careful out there. And tell Lori I'll try to pray but I make no promises as to whether they'll even be heard or not." Carol had called out behind them, Lana sighed sadly and shook her head because it was disheartening; seeing a woman with faith as strong as Carol's losing literally everything, her faith included. Daryl sighed too and mumbled in a whisper, "We're gon find her. I'll drag every foot o' these woods if I gotta."

"I know, sw- Daryl, I meant Daryl.." Lana blushed under the cover of darkness, had she really almost called him sweetheart? What she didn't see was the brief seconds light in Daryl's eyes as she almost said it. He coughed and his hand found hers, giving a squeeze. "It ain't a good idea, bein out here at night. But I can't say I blame ya. Reckon if it was Merle or a kid of Merle's I'd wanna be there too. Family's all we got right now."

"It really is." Lana answered, giving Daryl's hand a gentle squeeze of her own. It was the first time in quite some time that Merle's name had come up and Lana could hear the pain in the otherwise tough and hardass redneck's voice. "He's out there, Daryl... Man was a stubborn old ass... Just like someone else I know and care about a lot is."

Again, Daryl couldn't help but smile in the darkness at her words as they edged closer to the farmhouse with only one kerosene lantern in the downstairs window. The door was open, Shane was standing in it, the Mossberg across his shoulders as he talked to another guy, looking solemn and serious, and a shorter and curvy brunette who seemed to be giving them directions, talking with her hands mostly. And then Shane and the other man took off, Shane telling Lana on his way past, "Carl might just be okay... I have to.. I gotta go get some things... Do you need anythin'?"

Daryl spoke up, it didn't go missed by Lana how he pulled her closer and then Daryl surprised her by saying, "First aid kit... And vitamins if ya kin find 'em. Tylenol too... We're runnin real low on a lot of shit we're gon need sooner or later." before Lana could even mention that the few vitamins that Andrea found for her earlier, when they'd first gotten stranded on the highway, were running out.

Shane glared but he saw the already stressed look in Lana's face and thought to himself _'Least somebody's gon take care of 'er if she ain't gonna let me be the one to do it. And Dixon ain't no bad guy... for her sake, for the baby...'_ and bought himself to reply quietly, "Yeah... Reckon I can handle that. Ya'll might want to git indoors, Rick... Lori ain't no real big comfort for the guy and I gotta go do this."

"You need a hand?" Daryl shocked himself by asking, grumbling in annoyance with himself when he did so, but Shane shook his head, said calmly, "Lana's never been a real big fan of blood and gore. And she's gonna be upset too, 'specially if Carl starts havin another spell... So stayin here's better."

Lana and Daryl walked into the Greene farmhouse and Lana made her way over to Rick with Daryl at her side. "He'll be okay. If I have to, Rick, I'll pitch in with the guy who's doing all this."

Rick looked up and then nodded to the brunette in the doorway as he explained, "It's her and the man, Hershel. They could probably use some help. I'm givin as much blood as I can. They said I can't give no more for a while though..."

Lori sniffled, she'd just come back into the room from sitting on the back porch of the house, crying. Lana stiffly hugged her sister and then said quietly, "It'll be okay."

"The hell it will." Lori grumbled, starting to cry even more. Lana sighed and then said quietly, "Dale said that the rest of 'em are going to try and make their way out here tomorrow. Everybody's worried."

Then she and Daryl walked back out to the back porch where the brunette had vanished to, moments before. The girl was out there, little girl in her arms, mumbling. When the two of them got closer, it seemed as if the other female was praying. She finished and looked up as she said quietly, "God I just hope that kid is alright."

"He will be."

"It all depends on if that man, Shane, if him and the other guy, the jackass that did this in the first place, if they make it back with the medicine and supplies in time. Kid's had 2 seizures, if they get longer and more frequent... I can't, I'm not even going to think about it." Abigail said as she asked, "What's your names?"

"Daryl."

"And what's your wife's name?"

"I'm Lana..." Lana started to correct her but for some strange reason, neither Daryl or Lana bothered correcting the other woman's assumptions. And neither of them mentioned why, either. Maybe it was because they both figured this whole ordeal was temporary and they'd only see this woman a hand full of times or maybe, and the most likely reason, was that it didn't honestly bother either of the two.

There were worse things to be mistaken of, especially right now.

There was more going on around them than everything going on between them and the two were just sort of still trying to figure things out in all honesty. But the fact that neither corrected her, well... It spoke v olumes about everything if anyone else were to stop and think about it. And right then, both of them were wondering why the other hadn't but neither was brave enough to actually ask.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 33 reviews 45 favorites and 64 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

This chapter sort of ties into my latest WD story, Endings and Beginnings. A few fluffy things in here, more tension and they're now getting to the farmhouse part of the story... And they're just a teeny bit closer to becoming a thing. ;p


	15. Stranded Part Six

STRANDED PT 6

* * *

They were moving their group from the outside area of the farmhouse to the inside and somehow, under the guise that Daryl and Lana were together and married, they wound up sharing a room on the second floor. What shocked Lana was that Daryl didn't grumble all that much about it or immediately try to switch rooms. And Lana figured she probably should've, but the thought of not being near him just never occurred to her, she'd gotten that used to sharing the truck's seat or an air mattress in the bed of the truck with him since that day they'd had to leave the campground; a day that now seemed like lifetimes ago.

"You're okay with this, right?"

Daryl shrugged and then said quietly, "Won't be any different than sharin an air mattress or the seat in the truck." as he asked Lana, "If yer not okay... I can switch with one of the girls or somethin."

"No, no... I'm completely fine with it." Lana said the words quickly, a fact that she didn't see, but it made Daryl smile to himself a little and then promptly turn and swear a little under his breath when he realized that she was slipping her t shirt up and over her head and wiggling out of her jeans and that naturally, he was standing near a mirror so even if her covered his eyes he was still going to see something if he didn't close them. And before he realized it, he was sort of covering his eyes while covertly watching her, all the while kicking himself because the move was one Merle would make and not his style at all...

But her body was definitely a pleasant sight for his eyes to see. He coughed a little and Lana slid on a t shirt quickly, not thinking until after she'd slid it on... It belonged to Daryl. She'd mixed their clothing up in the hurry to move their things into the house earlier and it had been shoved down in her bag and not thinking, she'd grabbed the first shirt she saw, his plaid sleeveless one that he wore often.

Before he realized he'd done it, he blurted out, "Not bad." and Lana's entire body turned red under his gaze. She licked her lips, she found herself standing close enough all of a sudden to brush their bodies together with the slightest move. Glenn cleared his throat from the door and then announced with a smirk mostly aimed at Daryl, "Food is ready. If I were you, I'd hurry."

"We'll be down." Daryl grumbled, moving to slide the pocket door to the bedroom they were in shut and leaning on it as he stared at Lana for a few minutes.. "We need to talk." he muttered as Lana nodded and found herself moving towards him as if on autopilot. Daryl coughed a little bit, not sure how to bring up the subjects he felt honestly needed to be discussed because he lacked a certain grace and finesse those types of things.. Lana nodded as she stopped in front of him and said quietly, "But if we talk about it, Daryl, there's no promise you're going to like what I say. You said it yourself a while back, you're not the good guy, you're not a settle down kind."

"Yeah, well, I also said I wasn't ever gonna let a woman get to me, either." Daryl grumbled, crossing his arms as he looked at Lana standing there in his shirt, thought about her lips against his and how good it felt, how it managed to send this rush through his body like a high voltage electric shock. How he slept better whenever he had her body pressed as tightly as they could manage and her legs intertwined with his... The whole thing that he'd never in a thousand years ever thought would work, that he'd thought was just a phase to get herself distance from Shane Walsh was starting to be as natural as breathing and he wasn't stupid, he could tell that he wasn't the only one feeling it.

"I've gotten to you, huh?" Lana mumbled, leaning against him a little, her heart racing as soon as he'd said the words just then. It wasn't an I love you, but it wasn't not an I love you, either. And she knew Daryl well enough by now to know that he'd take forever before he was able to say the words. He'd had a rough life.

He wasn't good at these things.

But Lana didn't honestly care. She wanted him, exactly like this, flaws and all.

"I didn't stutter, did I?" Daryl asked, giving a grumpy look as his hand reached out, smoothed her hair back out of her eyes. The way it fell against her face, it made him think of an angel with darker hair. He snickered a little and then said quietly, "We can tell it's ta end o ta world... Somebody's roots are showin."

"oh you are such a butthole." Lana poked her tongue out as Daryl leaned in and said calmly, "One day, woman.. yer gon stick that tongue out..." eying her lips intently as he spoke. Lana smirked and dropped her defenses for a moment as she asked with a shrug, "And?"

Daryl shrugged but when she did it again, sticking her tongue out, he nipped lightly at her lower lip, sucking. Lana shivered a little, it definitely did things to her, when Daryl kissed her. The gesture sort of ignited a spark and he'd pressed her against the wall near the door when the door was knocked on again, this time it was Carl, wondering if she were okay, and if she were going to come down and eat with him.

Lana caught her breath and Daryl leaned down, his forehead meeting hers as he said quietly, "Feeling okay?"

"Feeling fantastic, Dixon."

"I'm gon move somethin in front of that door, I swear to God." Daryl grumbled when he thought Lana didn't hear him. Lana smiled to herself as she dug around, found another shirt - a lace trimmed spaghetti strap, her favorite red one- and a pair of her silky black and red pajama bottoms. Daryl turned his head again and took a few deep breaths, because Lana hadn't been the only one affected by the little impromptu make out just now, he'd definitely been affected.

And they'd managed to not talk about a damn thing, yet again. Sooner or later though, Daryl promised himself, they were going to talk about this thing happening between them. One way or another. it all went to hell for him when his eyes settled on her plump pink lips or the scent of her perfume filled his nose,sweet and distracting, or she'd get too close to him... Everything he wanted to say, it went right out the window... Maybe that was a sign that he needed to stop trying so hard to find a reason for this to end sooner or later. To just enjoy everything happening between them for what it was, the simplicity of it, the good feeling he got whenever he was with her as opposed to all the shitty feelings he got before he'd known her.

Things just felt better now, more natural, happier, and hell, even easier...

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 35 reviews 46 favorites and 71 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Okay, so this chapter turned out to be sort of hot but fluffy... I was kind of feeling frisky. But I kept myself from going all the way there. And there are still big things on the horizon for these two.


	16. The Farmhouse Part One

THE FARM PART 1

* * *

The scent of bacon hung heavily in the air and for a few minutes, Lana thought she had to be dreaming. She hadn't smelled the smell of bacon cooking since 3 weekends before everything fell apart when she'd gotten up and made it for herself and Shane. Stretching, she sat up and rubbed her eyes a little as she looked around. At first, she freaked out for a few minutes; then she remembered that they'd moved everything into the farmhouse the night before. The sound of the shower had her raising a brow, then she heard the constant humming of a generator and breakfast and running water were explained. The bathroom door opened and Daryl stood in it, towel around his waist, toothbrush in his mouth.

Her purple toothbrush. She opened her mouth to say something and he coughed and diverted his gaze as he grumbled about how he thought she'd have still been asleep to himself while ducking back into the bathroom and emerging a few seconds later wearing jeans and that cut off plaid shirt he wore almost every single day. Finally, he addressed her. "Yer awake."

"Obviously... And you're using my toothbr-" she started, Daryl raising a brow as he mused aloud, "Not like it matters, reckon we shared more than a few germs lately." and searched her face for a reaction smirking a little when she blushed _while silently wanting to smile himself because she hadn't grimaced or appeared to regret kissing him any of the times she had_ , before adding, "But I'll get one when we go inta town today. For supplies. That man, Hershel, said somethin last night about needin some things."

"No, it's okay... I mean you have a point." Lana admitted, sliding out of bed, very aware of his eyes and the way they were following every move she seemed to make as she moved around the room trying to gather clothes to put on for the day. She turned and found herself chest to chest with him and asked with a casual shrug, "And I'm guessing you used all the hot water too, huh?"

"Nah. Cold shower was what I wanted."Daryl admitted, chuckling when she grimaced at the mention of cold water. What he didn't tell her, of course, was that she was the damn reason he'd had to get a cold shower. He was standing between her and the doorway, his hand lingered at her hip as he said quietly, "Smells like they're cookin down there."

"Shower first and then food. I mean I'm starved but I want to take advantage of having running water and a hot shower while I can. I mean we're not going to be here long, likely." Lana said as Daryl gave a roll of his eyes and shrugged, flopping down onto the bed, flicking his hand in the direction of the bathroom between the bedroom they'd taken and whoever had taken the opposite one. "Go on then, princess... Get yer shower." his eyes took on an amused look and he was firmly doing his very best NOT to picture her in said hot shower.

"Princess, my ass." Lana grumbled, her teeth grazing her lower lip as she did her best not to relive the dream she'd been having about herself and a certain smartass redneck hunter in the shower just now. Because she was totally putting that down to horomones. That's it. She just had to keep telling herself that they'd never work and he'd never go for her current situation, being pregnant.. They had been flirting a lot lately, but Lana wasn't stupid; she knew enough to think that the only reason that Daryl was even flirting with her in the first place was severe lack of option. The second she started claiming to be special or wanted or worth it was when she'd lose him too.

It hit her as she stripped down and stepped into the shower that she couldn't even seem to think about losing him somehow. She gasped a little as she realized further that somehow in all this, she'd went from considering him as a best friend and a protector to falling head over heels in love with him. Now she just had to figure out how to deal with that and what to do next... Did she even tell him? And if she did, what would happen?

 _'If you tell him, Lana, things will get awkward really quick.'_ she thought to herself as she stepped out of the shower and got dressed, stepping out into the bedroom. To her surprise, he was sitting there; he looked like he was lost in thought or something. "Thought you'd go down and eat." Lana said quietly as Daryl shrugged and then answered, "Figured there would still be food down there. We need to talk."

 _'And here it comes... He's going to tell me that I misread the entire situation and he's only sticking close because he's a friend and he wants to make sure I'm okay, that I don't do something stupid like run back to Shane...'_ she thought to herself, missing when he said quietly, "Yer in my head, okay? And under my skin and I don't know how the hell to work around it or get past it. I ain't a good guy... Never been this settled and shit. Don't know what the hell I'm even doin' admittin all this to ya. But here it is."

She caught on to what he was saying and she stood there, not sure how to react at first. In his own way he was sort of hinting that he felt something for her. True to form he wasn't saying what or how serious those feelings were, but he wasn't shooting her down like she'd grown so accustomed to hearing over her lifespan.

"Wait, what?" she asked, grabbing Daryl's hand as he went to walk out of the bedroom while swearing and grumbling about how he'd just fucked up, how he needed to go, to stop making things awkward. Daryl blinked in shock as he found himself pushed against the door, Lana pulling into him into a kiss that he clearly hadn't been expecting to happen -he thought he'd made a royal mess to be honest- as her body molded against him. When it sank in that this was happening and she wasn't laughing off his semi confession, he quickly started to kiss back. When the kiss broke, they stared at each other for a few seconds quietly... Lana was the brave one who asked the question on both of their minds right then first...

"So... What's this mean? I mean I know what you're trying to say." Lana asked, looking up at Daryl. He shrugged and then said quietly, "Means whatever you want it ta mean, I guess." as he shrugged. Lana laughed a little and then said quietly, "Maybe it's better if we just don't label it?"

"Probably a good idea."

They went downstairs to eat and they'd just finished eating when Glenn and some of the other guys decided they needed to make a supply run. Daryl had been heading to his motorcycle when he felt a tap to his shoulder and turned to find Lana standing there, looking up at him, holding out the knife he'd given her. "You just come back to me in one piece, okay? And no fighting, damn it."

"I make no promises, woman." Daryl grumbled, giving a false annoyed eye roll as he smirked at her, nodded to the house and said "Stay away from yer sister. Stress ain't good for either of ya. I'll be back as soon as I can." before getting onto his motorcycle, driving off in the direction that one of the men's trucks went earlier.

Glenn eyed her with a raised brow and Lana asked with a laugh, "What?"

He shrugged and laughing he explained, "I just never actually saw that one coming.. you two, I mean."

"Stranger things happen every day, Glenn. Keep him safe for me, please?" Lana asked as Lori spoke up from behind them, "Glenn? Can you do something for me while you guys are out?" and the two walked away, whispering. Whatever it was had Glenn upset and after arguing with Lori, he walked past, getting onto the horse with Maggie.

Lana gave her sister a raised brow and Lori asked quietly, "Can I talk to you, Lana?"

"Depends on what it is, Lori. If it's a secret or a lie, I'd rather not hear it or be part of it, okay? I don't want to fight with you today so you should just go. I know you're my sister and this is the end of the world but I'm off the crazy rollercoaster. Daryl keeps reminding me stress isn't good for me or the kiddo. And he's right, and all you seem to do, Lori, is stress me out." Lana started to walk away and she froze when Lori caught up to her and said quietly, "I think I messed up really bad... I'm afraid I'm pregnant... And I can't... Neither of us should even be thinking about a baby in this world, Lana... I guess I just wanted to ask you what made you so damn sure you wanted to keep yours? And if I'm a bad mother because I'm not sure how I feel about possibly being pregnant too."

"You're just saying that because it might be Shane's."

"No, it's this world, Lana... I mean have you even stopped to think about what we're bringing out babies into? What made you so determined to keep it?" Lori asked quietly, looking at her sister as she added, "In my mind, no matter who's baby it really is, it's Rick's."

"So you're going to keep Shane away? You know as well as I do, Lori, it could be his."

"He's not the same guy he was before all this. He's gone somewhere dark, Lana... Rick is my husband... I don't even know if I want to keep it, let alone tell Shane there's a possibility I might be pregnant too." Lori caught hold of her sister's wrist and asked quietly, "I guess I was just hoping some of your optimism would help me. I wish I could be like you."

"Bullshit. You're only saying that, Lori, because you might need me on your side, you might need me to lie for you. I'm not. I'm not in this at all. And if you are pregnant and you keep it from either of them and I find out? I'm telling them both. You don't get it, do you? You can't just pull shit like this and not expect there to be some kind of fallout."

Lori watched her sister walking away as she hugged herself and sighed. Her sister had made a few good points but the fact remained... Either way it went, Rick's or Shane's... She just wasn't sure she wanted to bring a baby into this new world. And she didn't see how Lana was so gung ho about doing it herself. She went to her usual chores for the day.

Lana went into the house and found Hershel. He'd been giving her examinations since he'd found out she was expecting. After being reassured that the baby was fine and she was fine, maybe a little more stressed than she should be, she went upstairs and waited on Daryl to come back. As soon as she heard the hum of that motorcycle through the crack in the bedroom window, she shot out of the house like someone launched from a canon. Daryl caught her and then chuckled but quickly stepped back when he realized that they were sort of being watched by Beth and Carl and Jimmy as well as Glenn and Maggie who'd just ridden up on their horse.

"What ya'll lookin at, huh?" Daryl asked as he took a cigarette out from behind his ear and lit it, instantly earning him a raised brow from Lana who said pointedly, "Those things will kill you, Dixon."

"And so will everything else, princess. Specially now. Let's go inside. Too damn much starin out here." Daryl muttered as they walked inside the farmhouse. Glenn found Lori and thrust the EPT in his pack at Lori and said in a stiff voice, "There. Beyond this, Lori, I'm not in on it. I want no part of whatever you decide to do... It's going to kill Rick, the way you feel about it if you are pregnant."

"Thanks for getting it for me."

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 38 reviews 51 favorites and 77 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Okay, so things are finally (sort of) admitted. We all know it'd have to be life or death for Daryl to actually say the three words, he's not going to just jump into saying them, or I don't think he would at least. I pray to God he's still relatively IC. This chapter sort of revealed the Lori being pregnant thing and it really doesn't follow the show's timeline either, none of the chapters have exactly... But anyway, yeah... I hope you guys enjoyed and I'm sorry it took forever to update.


	17. The Farmhouse Part Two

THE FARM PART 2

* * *

He'd been gone for hours, he went to hunt again. All Lana could do was pace the floor and watch the double doors on the farmhouse every time they opened. From behind her, Dale said quietly, "I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later. He probably just needed to cool off too, you guys did have one hell of an argument earlier. He's fine. He'll be back." as Lana stepped away from the window in the farmhouse and tried to find something to do to occupy her mind. She was a ball of nervous energy and something just felt weird... Like he'd never been gone this long before.

"Worrying isn't good for you or the baby." Glenn spoke up from behind Lana, he and Maggie moved to sit down on the couch with her. Lana nodded but said quietly, "It's just he's been in a mood lately and I have no idea why..." as she took a few deep breaths. They were right, she knew it. Worrying wasn't good for her or the baby, but she couldn't help but worry. She saw a lone figure making it's way across the field and towards the farm at the same time that Andrea took a shot. When she heard the scream and saw Rick and Glenn as well as a few of the other men who'd been outside running in the direction of the figure she'd just seen walking towards the farm she felt her stomach churning.

That feeling got even worse when the men thrust the doors to the farmhouse open and were helping Daryl into the house. "What the fuck happened?" Lana asked, feeling the beginnings of a panic coming on. If she'd thought she might be falling for the tough as nails redneck before, seeing him covered in blood and the obvious gunshot wound he'd gotten seconds before only affirmed that thought. It hit her like a speeding train rushing at a brick wall too, the knowledge that she wasn't just falling for this man, she'd in fact already fallen for this man.

"Andrea thought he was a Walker coming so she took the shot. It was an accident." Rick explained in the calmest tone he could manage, trying to keep Lana from getting too upset. Hershel went to work on Daryl's bullet wound and Lana paced the floor outside the room, eyes fixed on the door to the room when she was finally sitting down.

"He'll be fine."

"I know, I just... I realized something, okay?" Lana mumbled quietly as Carol sat down next to her and then said quietly, "He's got to be okay. Pretty much the only thing holding this group together is that man." as Lana nodded in agreement. She knew he'd be okay, he'd only been shot in the shoulder, but it was still enough that she panicked when she'd seen him being helped in the door just an hour or two ago. Hershel came out and Lana stood and then asked, "He's okay, right? He wasn't bit or anything or.." Lana asked in a rush, Hershel shook his head and said quietly, "He's resting right now, coming off the medicine I had to give him to knock him out so I could remove the bullet. He should be waking up soon. You can go in if you want."

Lana made her way into the room quietly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Daryl was rolled on his side, looking away from her. He felt it when her hand slid through his hair. "I'd roll over, princess but fucking hurts ta move right now." he finally spoke up. Lana stood and made her way around the bed, getting onto it, rolling so that she faced him. "You scared the living hell out of me."

"Ain't like I planned that bimbo ta shoot at me." Daryl mumbled, looking at Lana, noticing that yeah, she'd been crying a little bit. He'd been moody earlier, they'd kind of argued before he stormed out to go and try to hunt and cool down after their argument earlier. He'd stayed away longer because he just needed to think, to try and figure out what he wanted to happen between them; to sort of slowly work up the nerve to go for it; to finally tell her that if this thing were going to go any further it had to be just him and her. He had to know if she was really done with her past.

He knew it, to some degree, he just had to be sure they were both on the same page.

Now, seeing the redness of her eyes and the overall panicked look on her face, he definitely felt like he knew it. Because she hadn't even shed a single tear when it was revealed that Shane and Hershel's oldest daughter Abigail slipped off during the night and went only God knows where together. But she'd been crying earlier when they'd had their fight and from the looks of it, she'd been crying now, worried about him after he'd gotten shot on accident by Andrea.

"I know, I just... When they carried you in, Daryl, it freaked me out, okay?" Lana admitted as she moved to lay down in front of him, touching him all over as they talked back and forth in whispers. "I'm sorry about earlier, okay? I just don't get why we even started arguing in the first place. Then when you stormed out to cool down, I kind of realized why... We don't know what's gonna happen ten minutes from now; let alone tomorrow. We keep dancing around all this, the way we feel, I mean I know I do. Neither of us are brave enough to say the words. You don't have to, Daryl. I will. I love you, Daryl Dixon, even when you make me so mad I want to punch you in the dick."

Daryl studied her intently, staying quiet. He knew how he felt, he knew that he wanted to say the words to her but he also knew that when he did say them the timing was going to be better. He wanted to say it when he felt like he was ready to admit it to everyone else and himself. He just wasn't quite there yet. Saying the words when he wasn't ready just kind of felt like making an empty promise and that jackass Walsh had done it more than enough to her. He also wanted to make sure she was it. Because he wasn't going to just shack up with someone because it was the end of the world and because that someone was sexy and sweet and they 'got him' and 'let him get by with stuff' like Lana did.

It might be an infuriating trait but Daryl Dixon was a precise and practical person. He saw no reason to rush into things despite the fact that the world was ending and they might not get a tomorrow.

Instead of giving her an answer, he pulled her lips against his and mumbled against them, "Shhh. Anybody ever told ya you talk too much, woman?" as Lana kissed him back and then said quietly, "About earlier... I'm sorry. I hate fighting with you, okay? You and the baby are pretty much the only good things in my life."

"Even when I'm a stubborn pain in the ass."

"Even when you're a stubborn pain in the ass." Lana echoed.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 39 reviews 60 favorites and 85 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Okay, so I wanted to have them face a few obstacles. The argument mentioned in the chapter was basically them arguing because neither of them really know how to just let go and let things happen. Plus Daryl's temper and Lana's temper. I realized that I left a pivotal moment in Daryl's story out and I wanted to put it in. So this is the whole thing where Andrea shot him, but instead of Carol, it's Lana. I hope no one minds. It turned out kinda sweet. Daryl's still holding out on those 3 words. Basically, this was a little bit of a fluff fest. Hopefully it wasn't a shitty fluff fest though. I'm trying my best to keep him IC.

I love you all so much!


	18. The Farmhouse Part Three

THE FARM PART 3

* * *

The pain hit her sharply and she sat up in the bed, sheet wrapped around her. She'd just had one hell of a nightmare, -she lost the baby AND Daryl- and she felt the pain a second time. The light came on and swearing, Daryl sat up in the bed behind her, his lips on her neck as he asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know... I was having a nightmare and now I'm having these sharp pains." Lana was panicking; she was trying hard not to let it show through. Daryl's arms went around her from behind and he asked quietly, "Do I need ta go wake up Hershel?" and at first, Lana was about to write off the pain as maybe a side effect of the dream or gas or something but then she felt it again. And it felt like someone stabbing her in the stomach repeatedly. "Just give it a minute." Lana pleaded, but Daryl was getting out of bed, pulling on the jeans that lie on the floor beside the bed they had been sharing. "I'm goin ta get 'im up." Daryl said as he walked out the door of their room and down the hall to the room Hershel slept in, knocking.

Hershel woke up and made his way to the door, peeking out. "It's Lana, she's havin pains." Daryl said as he took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. "She feels real warm too. Feverish." Hershel kind of had the feeling that the pains were just the baby stretching inside of her to make more room or something like Braxton Hicks, which his wife had had with all three of their daughters, but he didn't say anything. "Let's go and have a look then." Hershel said quietly, telling Daryl, "There's some whiskey left in my study. You look like you could use some calmin down."

Daryl shook his head and followed Hershel down the hallway and into the room with Lana, sliding back onto the bed behind her as he said quietly, "Stay calm. I'm not gon go anywhere."

Lana nodded; inside, she was freaking out. The pains felt like labor pains; she'd gotten her cell phone out of the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed and turned on the timer and she was just praying to God that the pains she felt were nothing more than Braxton Hicks contractions, because if she went into labor now, with no hospital to take the baby to... Her stomach churned and another pain came, right on schedule. She lay back so that Hershel could examine her and Daryl pulled her head into his lap, his rough fingers trailed slowly through her hair and he was talking more than he ever talked normally. She realized it then; despite him keeping an outward appearance of cool and calm, he was freaking out too.

When the next pain came, Hershel eyed her and asked, "How long has this been going on?"

"Just the past minute or two off and on... It feels like, " she sucked in a sharp breath and said quietly, "labor pains. But my water isn't broken... And some aren't as sharp as the others..." Lana said quietly, asking soon after, "Is the baby okay?" and after a few minutes of examination, Hershel looked up and said calmly, "It was Braxton Hicks contractions, I think. But I also think you need plenty of bed rest for a few days, and if you feel any more pains, let me know."

Daryl let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding and when Hershel was out of the room, he scooted down into the bed, lifting the covers and helping Lana wiggle back beneath them. His arms closed around her carefully and he admitted in the darkness, "Scared the livin shit outta me." as his hand moved slowly over her rounding stomach, coming to rest over her hands. Lana answered quietly, "Scared the shit out of me too." as she rolled over and pulled Daryl into a kiss carefully. Daryl deepened the kiss, his hand coming up, resting on her cheek. "Yer still kind 'a feverish." as he pulled the covers up even higher around them. Lana snuggled against him and slipped her leg between his. His lips found her forehead in the darkness and he told her in a firm tone, "Means yer not gettin out 'a this bed, woman."

"I'll be fine. We're fine. We have you, Daryl." Lana said quietly as Daryl answered "And yer still not gettin outta this bed, woman." and smiled a little in the darkness. "I ain't special." he added a few seconds later as Lana shook her head and then argued with him, "You are, damn it."

"Woman, stop arguin and go to sleep. The man said ya needed ta rest." Daryl chuckled as he pulled her even closer and put his arm over her carefully. "That ain't hurtin, right?"

"I love being in your arms."

"Yeah, well, I don't wanna hurt either of ya." Daryl asked, wary look as he kissed her again and worked on getting himself calmed down. Because just the thought of something happening to Lana or the baby, the scare they had just now, it had truly scared the living hell out of him even if he wasn't quite sure how to really show it. "Night, Lana."

"Night, Daryl." Lana gave him a kiss and took a few deep breaths, calming herself down completely and she started to doze off in literal seconds.

* * *

 **CAVEAT LECTOR:**

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 42 reviews 62 favorites and 88 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Okay, so I wanted to have them face a few obstacles. And obviously, I had to have one of them be Braxton Hicks contractions. I know it's a little early yet, but... you can feel them as early as the second trimester, which if Lana is at least 3 months along already, I think that's actually close to the second trimester... Anyway, maybe Daryl will say those 3 words soon? He's getting there, trust me. I hope you guys like this and I'm sorry if I freaked anyone out with the above chapter, I really am.

I love you all so much!


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